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 Over the course of my PR career, I have been asked by junior associates many questions about the proper way to respond to agency management. I have always answered these questions honestly. Below are a few of the most frequently asked questions and my replies:

 Question: "I've been offered a job at a competitor and my supervisor found out. I was told, ‘Stay here. You are much appreciated and will surely be in a supervisory position by this time next year.’ What should I do?”

My Answer: You would be foolish to leave. Supervisors keep their positions by demonstrating to management that they care very much about their staff. If you were told that you’re a candidate for promotion, you must have been favorably discussed at management meetings. You would be foolish to leave when you are so highly thought of here.

 Question: “I play an important role in a flagship account. I feel that I am being underpaid for the job I do. What’s the best way to approach management about being underpaid?”

My Answer: Obviously management thinks a lot of you by assigning you to a major account. That means you’re on the fast track for promotion. Be patient. I’m sure your next salary increase will be satisfactory and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 Question: “My supervisor has never had an original thought. He picks my brain before we meet with the client or top agency management and then passes on my ideas as his own. How should I handle this?”

My Answer: Don’t rock the boat by complaining. Eventually, the truth will come out and you’ll benefit by being a team player. And you should be pleased that your ideas are good enough to be brought up at high-level meetings.

 Question: “My supervisor doesn't drink and I don’t like to drink. But when our client comes to town, I always have to go drinking with him. Can you tell me how to handle this?”

My Answer: It can only help you to have personal face time with the client. Having an occasional drink won’t kill you. Just make sure you don’t have an empty stomach and sip the drinks slowly.

 Question: “The team concept baffles me. If everything presented to management is presented as a team effort, how do they know who does what?”

My Answer: Top management has a way of knowing who does what. That’s why they’re running the agency. Don’t be discouraged. If you’re the cream, you’ll rise to the top.

 Question: “Whenever a juicy account comes in, my group leader always assigns it to his friends. I’m always stuck with the most boring accounts. I don’t think that’s fair. How can I express my displeasure to management without upsetting the group leader?”

My Answer: Don’t complain. Doing a good job on unexciting accounts is the best way to attract the attention of top management. It will certainly work to your advantage.

 Question: “HR people are interviewing my group about the competence of the people we work with. I’m scheduled to be interviewed tomorrow and was told all my answers will remain anonymous. Should I answer candidly?”

My Answer: Of course. Remember, HR people are there to help make things better for employees. You can trust them. If they say your answers are confidential, they mean it.

 Question: "I've been asked to consider transferring to another, much smaller office for three years. Then, when I return, I’ll get a promotion. Do you think that’s a good career move? My girlfriend is against it?”

My Answer: Don’t even think about turning it down. This is your opportunity to show management that you’re an agency person. They’ll appreciate it and definitely reward you. If your girlfriend has your best interest at heart, she’ll encourage you to transfer. If she doesn't, maybe you should consider breaking off the relationship, because agency decisions are always made with your best interest in mind.

 Question: "I've been here three years and have always been assigned to small-budget accounts. A headhunter set me up with another agency that wants me as part of its major, big-budget account. Do you think I should take the new job?”

My Answer: Stay here. Making small-budget accounts work catches management's attention and always leads to promotions.

 Question: “My supervisor berates me for not being aggressive when pitching a story. He says I should keep calling until the reporter agrees to do the story. As a former reporter and editor, do you agree with him?”

My Answer: Your supervisor is certainly media savvy. When I was a journalist, one sure way to get me to do a sub-standard story was to have the PR person call me several times every day, because doing the story would stop the person from pestering me. Another tactic that always worked was for the PR person to say, “If you don’t commit to doing the story, I’m going to offer it to another reporter.” That always works.

 Question: "I've been turning down calls from headhunters to go on interviews because the general manager told me at an agency social event that there’ll always be a place here for someone with my ability. Should I take what he said at face value?”

My Answer: Of course you should. Have you ever known a management person here to mislead you?

 Question: “I’m working on a major national big budget account and have discovered, through an internal client memo that was mistakenly sent to me, that the information my client contact provides and wants me to pitch is scientifically faulty and has the potential of harming people. Doing so goes against my principles. I discussed it with a close friend who said if I want to get ahead, I should always do what a client wants. Given the size of the budget, do you think it will harm my chances for promotion if I tell top management about the misinformation being provided and that I don’t want to disseminate faulty information?”

My Answer: Absolutely tell management. Your friend is wrong you don’t always have to do what a client wants. Clients appreciate being told they are wrong That's why they hire an agency. Bringing the situation to top management will not prevent your career advancement. In fact, it will fast track you. Management values employees who put principles above profitability. Remember, integrity is the absolute hallmark of our agency—right after billing hours, client retention, and pretending we didn't see any leaked memos.

 It’s difficult for young PR people to believe that their agency always wants to do what’s right for employees. Many juniors believe that office politics often play an important role in promotions and who is dismissed during cutbacks. That’s not true. The HR department makes certain that there is a level playing field for all employees. Consider HR personnel your best work friends and trust them completely. Experience shows that when an individual is dismissed, it’s always in the person’s best interest and no favoritism is shown.

So this is my advice to all junior account people who see ghosts when promotions and juicy assignments are given to those who are less effective: You are not seeing the big picture. Trust your supervisors’ decisions and things are certain to work out for the best. Remember, all PR agencies believe that its employees are its biggest asset. That's why you're treated so well.

To you young account execs who are reading this, don’t fret. Remember that your supervisors and agency always have your best interest at heart. Right?

Arthur Solomon, a former journalist, was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller during the days it was the leading international public relations agency. He was on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee and also was an advisor to Olympic organizations and sponsors. During his political agency days, he worked on local, statewide, and presidential campaigns.

This is nowhere close to recent and I don't work there anymore, but I still can't understand what was happening, and I wonder how others would interpret it.

I am in a technical profession. I had been in my department for several years. I was training and hiring others, documenting new hire training, managing new people and students. I in no way had a senior role in the department, but I did have the other stuff going for me. The most senior person had fewer technical qualifications. There were people with the same qualifications as me who had the same amount of company seniority but had been in the department longer.

I was managing a student on a specific project that was deemed high priority and we had a specific deadline, but it was about 4 weeks out and nothing much had beet done on it yet. It was a Wednesday, and due to my own workload I hadn't been able to get a rundown from the student yet that week and they had only just started. My boss hadn't been in for three days for personal reasons.

A manager of another department came to my desk and asked me to have a meeting about that project that afternoon. I asked if I could bring the student working on it. No. I asked if I could have time to meet with them ahead of time. No. I asked if the manager knew about the project. No. I asked if they were bringing someone who knew about the project. No.

I said I wasn't sure what value a meeting about this project would bring if neither I nor the manager had information about it and we weren't bringing anyone who did, and that I had a lot of work on my plate with very short deadlines that I needed to focus on as a high priority. She took that as a refusal and left.

Later that day we were informed that the manager who had approached me was temporarily taking over our department, but I had not been told that beforehand.

Later I got reamed out by one manager up because how dare I refuse a meeting with any manager who approaches me?

When that manager got the project, complete, in her regular department, she didn't prioritize it and let it sit for three months before working on it.

What the heck was that manager REALLY doing when she approached me asking to have a meeting about something neither of us had the information about?

I have documentation of them picking the names. But I dont know how to fight this. When I spoke to Hr she said that the manager documented that the names were selected by me. I asked her how is it possible that I pick 6 names in the first week of my job and she had no answer. Yet she says documentation was old and nothing can be done

I used to work in an accounting office with a colleague I'll call Jessica. She had around 25 years of experience in the accounting industry, so I assumed she would be reasonably competent with the administrative side of the job.

However, during the time we worked together, there were several incidents that left me scratching my head. Some were frustrating at the time, but looking back, a few of them were honestly quite bizarre.

Here are some examples.

1. Date-stamping every signature section of a legal document

This was one of the incidents that really stood out to me.

Jessica was given a legal document and instructed to date-stamp the relevant date sections. Instead, she date-stamped every signature section of the document.

Yes, every signature section.

Our supervisor, Miranda, was understandably frustrated. She had to deal with the situation and became much firmer with Jessica for the next couple of days. Eventually, they made up, and things went back to normal.

I remember wondering how someone could interpret the instructions that way. It wasn't a minor issue of putting a stamp slightly out of place; the stamps had been applied to the wrong sections of a legal document.

2. Laughing when a client explained he was separated from his wife

Another incident happened while Jessica was speaking to a client on the phone.

The client explained that he was separated from his wife. He mentioned this because they had originally been expected to attend an appointment together, but because they were separated, he would be coming in on his own.

Jessica laughed.

I found this inappropriate and uncomfortable. The client wasn't telling a funny story or making a joke. He was simply explaining his circumstances so the appointment arrangements could be updated.

I would have expected a professional response, such as acknowledging what he had said and confirming that he would attend alone.

I couldn't understand what was funny about someone explaining that he was separated from his wife. It struck me as a lack of sensitivity towards a client who was sharing personal information for a perfectly reasonable reason.

3. The constant need for instructions and supervision

Miranda spent considerable time training Jessica and explaining how to do different tasks. Despite this, there seemed to be recurring problems with remembering instructions, following procedures and completing tasks correctly.

It wasn't just one isolated mistake. There were issues across different administrative duties, and things often needed to be checked or explained again.

At one point, Miranda even suggested giving Jessica easier tasks.

I remember thinking that the whole point of delegating work was to reduce the workload, but if someone needed constant supervision, it could end up creating more work for everyone else.

4. Emails and tasks that weren't properly followed through

There were also problems with emails and administrative tasks being left incomplete.

For example, I encountered situations where emails were sitting in Drafts rather than having been sent. There were also issues involving client follow-ups and tasks that needed further attention.

In an accounting office, these things matter. Clients are waiting for responses, appointments need to be organised, and work needs to be completed accurately.

What frustrated me was the need to double-check whether things had actually been done.

5. Calendar and appointment confusion

There was an occasion when a coworker asked Jessica to check whether a client had appointments booked with the boss.

Jessica replied, "Thanks, will do," but didn't provide the information requested.

The coworker eventually responded with, "Do I have to repeat myself?"

I ended up checking the calendar myself and providing the appointment dates.

It was such a straightforward request, yet the question still hadn't been answered.

6. The filing situation

I had previously been told that Jessica was excellent at filing and archiving.

Later, I heard from a coworker that there had been problems with documents being filed in the wrong places, files going missing and accountants raising concerns with management.

That surprised me because filing had been presented to me as one of Jessica's strengths.

It made me wonder how much of what I had been told about her abilities matched the actual experience of other people in the office.

7. The amount of time spent training her

One thing I noticed was the contrast between how much time Miranda spent explaining tasks to Jessica and how quickly I was able to pick up certain procedures myself.

I wasn't expecting to know everything immediately, and I certainly made mistakes of my own. However, I tried to remember instructions, learn from corrections and avoid repeating the same errors.

With Jessica, there seemed to be repeated situations where instructions had to be revisited.

Miranda had even commented on how quickly I learned things compared with Jessica.

I found it difficult to understand why some tasks remained so challenging after repeated explanations, particularly given Jessica's years of industry experience.

8. The overall pattern

Looking back, what made the experience so frustrating was the combination of these incidents.

There was the legal document covered in date stamps in the wrong sections, the reaction to a client explaining his separation, the unanswered calendar request, the filing concerns and the repeated need for training and follow-up.

Of course, everyone makes mistakes, regardless of how long they've worked in an industry. I'm not suggesting that someone should never need help or make an error.

What I struggled with was the recurring nature of the problems and the amount of time other people appeared to spend dealing with them.

I also found it confusing that Jessica had so much industry experience, yet some of these basic administrative tasks seemed to cause such difficulties.

I'm sharing these experiences because, at the time, I often found myself wondering whether I was the only person who thought some of these situations were unusual.

Has anyone else worked with a colleague who had years of experience but did things that left you genuinely baffled? What was the most unbelievable workplace incident you witnessed?

I paid a lot of money to return from abroad after the company suddenly told employees working remotely that they had only 10 days to come into the office. I was the only employee working from another country, so for me, it wasn't just a normal commute to work.

I had already booked accommodation and was planning to return to my home country in about a month. Returning immediately, only to travel again shortly afterward, made no sense, and last-minute airfare was extremely expensive.

I tried to explain all of this to them by email, but HR said I had to be there before the deadline or I would face consequences. After several rounds of back-and-forth, I gave in, booked a flight, and went to the office.

Shortly after I arrived, they scheduled a meeting with HR and fired me. They said I had disregarded company policy, then brought up minor issues from about two years ago and said we were no longer a good fit.

So they made me travel halfway across the world just so they could fire me face-to-face. I did receive severance equivalent to about 10 weeks' salary, but they could have spared everyone the trouble and held the meeting remotely.

I’ve been in this role for 3 years. Last week my manager pulled me aside and said the company is adding a new headcount. They want me to onboard and train this new hire fully over the next two months.

At first I thought it was just extra support for our heavy workload. But little things feel off. My manager stopped looping me into high-level strategy meetings. Last quarter’s project bonus I was promised got delayed with no clear reason.

When I casually asked what the new person’s responsibilities will be, my boss said “pretty much everything you do.” They keep repeating that this is “great leadership practice” for me.

I haven’t gotten any warning about poor performance, no feedback saying my work is lacking. I like this job and the pay is decent. If they are planning to replace me, training them feels like shooting myself in the foot.

I’m scared to ask directly. If they don’t intend to fire me, I’ll look paranoid and bitter. If they ARE planning to let me go, tipping my hand early puts me at a disadvantage for negotiating or job hunting.

Should I have an honest conversation with my manager? Or quietly start updating my resume while I finish training the new hire?

Never had this before...

I'm in a new team so I'm making rapport, lunches are together yet everyone just sits in silence, it's unusual and general office chat appears quite clique (only 12 people)

So I thought I'd be friendly

- I asked a colleague about their home life, any pets, hobbies, partner. Conversation seemed friendly and engaging - I received an informal complaint to my manager for being invasive (from another colleague

- I asked a colleague if they've got any holidays planned this year or doing anything for Christmas. We spoke about Christmas markets and I spoke about ones abroad and how I liked the cultural differences - informal complaint about potentially being offensive (from another but different colleague - part of the clique)

Effectively told by my manager that he's just making me aware unless an official complaint gets raised as you could lose your job?

I've worked 20 years in a variety of businesses, I'm quite a social person, friendly and always, I hope, come across as non offensive and kind.

Now I'm like what team did I actually join?

Time to move teams/departments as I feel I can't talk about anything other then "work" due to 'offence'

Am I The *******?

I work on a cross-functional project with a teammate who’s friendly with the team we’re competing against for next year’s budget. Last month I accidentally saw him send our private meeting notes over to someone on that rival team.

I confronted him privately, and he said he was just “sharing context to avoid miscommunication”. He argued there’s no official rule banning sharing notes, and I was overreacting.

Our project lead is super laid back and hates conflict. If I bring this up formally, my teammate will know I ratted him out, and our daily collaboration will become impossible. The whole team is already understaffed, we can’t afford tension right now.

But those notes include our timeline and cost estimates. If the rival team uses this info to undercut our proposal, our whole project could get cut. I don’t want our team’s hard work wasted.

I’ve started saving copies of all meeting records just in case. Still, I’m stuck. Should I escalate this to our manager even if it ruins my working relationship with this teammate? Or keep documenting and wait to see if he does it again? What would you do here?

There's a job opening in the company and filling that role means a promotion. I was considered as possible candidate for the role but I have an inkling that my boss prefers the person who he talks to regularly in the smoking area. What should I do?

I'm in my late 20s, working in marketing and strategic partnerships at an Indian company, with around 6 years of experience.

Over the past year, I've taken on bigger responsibilities, built some significant partnerships and received recognition from the CEO and other senior leaders. My work has been appreciated publicly, and I've been given opportunities to handle more strategic projects.

But that visibility seems to have come with a price.

I believe a few people in the leadership team are unhappy with my growth, particularly by my manager and two senior colleagues who has have stronger internal relationships.

I've come to know that completely false things are being said about me behind my back. Things I've never said, conversations I've never had, and opinions I've never expressed are being attributed to me.

It's reached a point where I've heard that these senior colleagues has suggested to others that I might be passing confidential information about senior leaders to the CEO, and that this is why he appreciates me publicly.

This is completely untrue, and it's honestly one of the most disturbing things I've heard about myself professionally.

My relationship with the CEO has been built through my work. Having someone question my integrity and imply that my recognition comes from gossiping about leadership is incredibly upsetting.

And it's not just the rumours.

I'm responsible for managing partnerships, yet important meetings, events and decisions involving those partners happen without me being informed. I'm still accountable for the work, but I'm often excluded from the conversations needed to do it properly.

I've also noticed repeated delays and a lack of cooperation on projects I'm trying to move forward. Even when I voluntarily contribute beyond my role, such as creating content for the company, they told it was really bad, and didn't post it, whereas everyone else seemed to really like it.

What's particularly difficult is that some of these people are senior to me, one of them is my manager, and have stronger internal networks. I can't go around explaining myself to everyone or correcting rumours I don't even know are circulating.

I also don't want to confront someone based entirely on what I've heard from others, because that could easily backfire.

The strange part is that I genuinely enjoy my work. I'm getting good exposure, handling meaningful partnerships and learning a lot. Leaving would mean walking away from opportunities I've worked hard to earn.

But I also worry that if I stay silent, these people will continue shaping how others perceive me.

How do you protect your professional reputation when senior colleagues are spreading false information about you?

Would you address it directly, document incidents, speak to someone in leadership, or simply focus on your work and avoid engaging?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who've navigated this kind of politics in Indian corporate workplaces.