Ex-Blagojevich Aide Offers Tips For Surviving A 'Crazy Boss'... Like Trump

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Feb 22, 2017 5:45PM

A man who worked under disgraced ex-governor Rod Blagojevich (before he attempted to sell Barack Obama's senate seat, tanked his career and landed in federal prison) has written a career advice column for the age of Trump—specifically offering advice for what to do "when you have a crazy boss," aimed at members of the Trump administration.

Writing in a column for Inc., Bradley Tusk describes how at age 29 he was hired as Deputy Governor of Illinois under Blagojevich, who was allergic "to doing real work, understanding policy, negotiating budgets, reviewing legislation, focusing on operations and everything else that goes into responsible governing." Yikes.

"For those now entering the Trump administration, what do you do when you have a crazy boss and the responsibilities of your job outstrip your experience?" Tusk writes.

Well for starters, don't indulge your boss's grudges or crackpot conspiracy theories (apparently this was a problem under Rod). "If you're not willing to fight—and be fired for it—don't take the job," he writes. "It's no fun to have your boss scream at you 24/7. But, it's also how you stop stupid things from happening and how you stay out of jail."

But having an incompetent boss has its bright spots, Tusk adds: "It seems highly unlikely that Trump or his team will want to get into the details of how any federal agency works, which creates tremendous freedom to innovate." Tusk then describes how he and his team were able to experiment with a variety of policies that Blago apparently couldn't care less about, including revamping the Illinois Tollway system.

Of course, it seems less likely with each passing day of the new White House administration and the release of each new, disturbing executive order, that a quiet legion of dedicated public servants are slogging through in hopes of cushioning America from the effects of Trumpism. But we can hope.

[H/T Sun-Times]