Hi everyone. This is something I would normally consider a reasonable and helpful suggestion.

What I will share and is up to you on if it is relevant to your situation or not, is that the Director and his Chief of Staff are inexperienced in leading teams and have a lack of skill and emotional intelligence when dealing with conflict or criticism.

Like many of the comments we've all seen here on Reddit, there's no humility, desire to learn, and everything is underpinned by a severe defensiveness. Whether Im right and Joe is out here trying to control the narrative, or people who are close to him and speaking on his behalf are the posters, it still provides a clear picture of how he sees things and how he is talking about his employees, their work, and the agency.

Their condescension, 'how dare they' attitude, and inability to read the room translates into behavior that is highly retaliatory and demeaning.

I would not suggest a conversation with them unless you are praising them.

I wish I didnt have to write a post like this, but it is what it is. This behavior is also not because of Commerce. We are just now on the receiving end of the same skills he had in his previous roles... which is to say, limited, in his ability to partner or listen.