I joined a major employer as an interim maternity cover one month ago. It’s a senior role. The director told me that she wanted me to make lots of improvements in the interview. Someone else took the post before me and left after 2 weeks. I took it as it was the only suitable part time role I could find.
I have been really keen and trying to take on the team management etc. However my boss is a control freak and undermines any attempt by me to do my role but also complains if I don’t do things or manage the team. I feel like I can’t win. She seems to feel threatened by me. It doesn’t help that at interview I said I would be taking a pay cut (my previous pay which I disclosed is higher than her current pay and I am a lot younger than her).
She has now resigned, not because of me. However, she is really angry because I spoke to the ceo about some team structure changes I think might be beneficial after she has gone (because he asked me my opinion). She then said that my role wasn’t actually a senior role in a meeting with other team members along. I requested a private meeting with her and said that I felt upset by her saying my job was more junior than I’d been told and about various other things. She then started crying. She wouldn’t listen to anything I said and also said that she couldn’t work with me. She denied saying any of the things in meetings that she did say and wanted me to call in team members to state who was telling the truth. I refused as it seemed deeply unprofessional.
We have a number of major deadlines coming up and I just don’t know what to do. I ended up just trying to calm her down in the meeting. She did not listen to any of my valid points of view and just criticised me the whole way through.
I don’t really want to resign as it will look bad on my cv but I am also afraid that she will get me into a disciplinary or something as she is so unstable and unprofessional. The ceo is away for the next two weeks so there is no one else I can speak to.
Any advice? What can I do to protect myself?