sorry bit long!
Started job at a charity 4 months ago, been giving it my all as it was a re-connect with an area I care about and my old job was sh*t. Commuted 6 hour round trip once a week when others still at home, started at 7 am, did a double shift on info stand etc.
I was told on day one that the area I am currently working in - for one year funding - is a "moral priority" by the CEO, and that I should look to develop it further. He is not my LM. Weirdly when he told me this he closedthe door of the office to LM couldn't hear.
All went well, I was even offered a promotion by LM to "head up" a new 2-stranded workstream, if I came up with a business plan to take with the board who would potentially fund it properly. Did that, complete with spreadsheet, showed a potential revenue, and email about clarifying what they wanted from the project (possibly too full-on?) in terms of revenue or outreach.
CEO impressed, LM not so much, coming up wtih random idea in the meeting, cutting the meeting in half as she "wanted lunch", and when I queried what she was saying the CEO started visibly shaking. Didn't have time to talk about second strand.
Shaking CEO then began to waffle on about some other avenue he wanted me to look in to (I actually have sector knowldge in this and his idea is a no-go - didnt' say that though).
Now I have been de-moted to formatting a list of competitors for the "business plan" for his idea.
I pushed back this morning (meeting was last week and I was waiting to see if they would clarify) - listing the priorities I thought they wanted me to look at, just got back a terse reply from LM about filling in my list only. Not wanting any financials, market analysis, big picture, partnerships, future planning, branding etc.
WTF did I do wrong? I have been "nice" to colleagues, making sure I bring in cakes for my birthday, time for chats, joining in etc. I may have overstepped the mark though somehow.
What do i do now? lie low? approach CEO? try and have a chat with LM about this?