我和一个同事一起给我老板工作.我老板 was always attacked by one of his collegue (anotherVP). She went to the director to comlain that my boss should never let me take 3 weeks vacation during busy time. This had nothing to do with her but gave her the excuse for not helping my team.(because I was on vacation).
My collegue worked for this woman VP for 8 years before he transferred to my group. Under the influence of his old boss, he never respected my boss (his boss too) from day 1 and he thought his old boss could always protect him because she has a lot of power in the department. He asked my boss to take a whole week vacation on Friday. My boss never officially approved because we were too busy. He still took the vacation. My boss reported to HR as unexcused absence and gave him a bad review. I don't know if he ended up got a warning. My collegue is a long time good performer in the department and thinks he can kick my boss out (my boss is new). After that, he said to me "noboday can stand on my back when something bad happened to me. I will lose my job if I keep pissing him (our boss) off"
I think you should never underestimate what your boss can do to you. No matter how weak he is and how strong or powerful you are, you should always respect him or at least pretend to respect him. 胳膊拧不过大腿,千真万确.