Niche job, being pushed out

[DizzyIzzy2022]

I’ve worked for my company for nearly 10 years in a niche role (for the area). I have always been good at my role and well respected by colleagues. I work in a career which takes a decent time to qualify into.

A new CEO has come on board and despite my best efforts we just clash. I say clash but all our conversations and them complaining about what me/my team doesn’t do whilst I try to show willing but explain budget/resource issues. They don’t listen and round and round we go. They have also made comments about my age and facial expressions which borders on unprofessional. Surprisingly colleagues of the opposite gender do not receive similar comments!

I think I need to leave as my mental health can’t take much more. However, I live in a rural area and my role is extremely niche (corporate) and there are not many businesses within an hour/two hour radius that would have a need for my role. I have young children and can’t uproot them and move to a bigger city.

Does anyone have any advice? I feel like I can’t see the woods for the trees at the moment.

thank you

Explaining why you can't implement the new CEOs ideas is certainly the first step towards ensuring you need to leave.

Obviously they may be crap and unfeasible ideas but "no we can't because I know best" is always going to mean they want to replace you.

"That's an interesting idea. I'd like to run a pilot/feasibility study to map out what the consequences will be" is better than "that won’t work"

"We can do X but the additional running costs will mean we have to reduce the budget for Y or Z, how do you think those should be prioritised?" is better than "we don't have the money for that" (if Y and Z are your core raison d'etre then that's worth pointing out"

Ultimately, the CEO is responsible for steering the ship and has the right to choose the direction. You can provide the information that a particular direction is full of rocks but it is not for you to decide that therefore a different course must be chosen.

If you decide to abandon ship instead, think through what the consequences are likely to be when these disastrous plans are eventually implemented. What opportunities are those going to create and what organisations are going to be best placed to respond to those opportunities? How can you best position yourself to be part of the solution?

Implement what you are being asked to do. Or find another job and uproot your family.

You need to suggest solutions rather than being a barrier to ideas - presumably they were brought on board to implement certain business strategies.

The job market is brutal at the moment.
The damage may be done but if I were you I'd be focusing and talking about what is possible rather than what isn't.

A new CEO who doesn't make changes and identify areas where new things are done, or old thinds done in a new way, is a bit of a crap CEO frankly. What's the point of a leader who just sits still and lets everyone do what they've always done. How is that CEO earning their £££? Of course not every idea is perfect but the "direct reports" to the CEO (presumably including you) need to facilitate refining the ideas to identify the feasible ways that the improvements the CEO is seeking can actually be achieved, not insisting on keeping everything the same. If you can't do that then you may be an example of the Peter Principle in practice and you may not be in the right role.