To feel caught in crossfire @ work?

[ikno]

In my company there are 7 tiers of staff, with 7 being the most senior/head of department. I am seniority level 4, so there’s 3 tiers of staff that I manage, and 3 tiers of staff above me in my management chain.

My manager and his manager don’t get along. I feel my manager’s manager doesn’t like me by association, because they never bother with me, ignore my messages, show no interest in my lead area etc.

My manager bitches about his manager to me, and had a job interview recently so might be leaving. I feel caught in a crossfire because once my manager leaves, I’ll likely be left with no support, no contingency for my projects, no continuity etc. Aibu to feel stuck? How can I recover relationship with their manager?

Is your manager quite gossipy generally? Could they have been badmouthing you as well? I'd see this as an opportunity once your manager (who sounds toxic) is gone to build a better relationship with senior management. By working hard, being professional and keeping your head down

Tbh if you feel "caught in the crossfire" in this situation you are standing in the wrong place. Metaphorically speaking in terms of your hierarchy you can only be caught in the crossfire if you are between your boss and his boss, which shouldn't be the case.

Your relationships are with those immediately below you in the hierarchy, and with your boss. Tend to those relationships and do your job well.

In most company hierarchies it's inappropriate for anyone to be going above their boss's head and messaging their boss's boss directly. There might be an exception if there's a big report or presentation which you are taking responsibility for under your boss's guidance and supervision, and it might be that the final output goes to the person 2 levels up.

If I was regularly receiving direct messages from someone who was two steps below me in the hierarchy I would be seeing that as further evidence of incompetence from the person who is supposed to be managing that person and reporting to me. It's difficult to generalise as different industries are going to have different ways of working but ultimately if I am on level 2 in the hierarchy and have 4 different level 3 people reporting to me about their areas of responsibility I have enoigh on my plate keeping a handle on what those level 3 people are telling me, making sure their different functions are working together smoothly and dealing with any conflicts, and keeping my level 1 superior appropriately informed. That's a big enough job already. If I have random direct messages from level 4 people about minutiae that their level 3 manager should be filtering for me then that level 3 person is failing. I don't have the time ir headspace to engage with the day to day concerns of the people on level 4, I need my level 3 direct report to be gathing that detail and giving me the executive summary. Glad to hear that they are going. Hopefully they will be replaced by someone competent.