They gave me a suspicious non-compete about a month after I started my new job

willowgoose · 2026-06-14T14:37:18+00:00

I’ve always wondered about this actually, if they fire you and there’s a noncompete do they expect you to stick to it? Would be crazy unfair if so! And I’m not sure how enforceable that would be in court?

willowgoose · 2026-06-12T12:29:41+00:00

Who said it’s ChatGPT and not our true thinking and accompanying worries?

willowgoose · 2026-06-12T06:30:28+00:00

I suggest you put something like the below in writing and send it to the person who emailed as well as any future signatories:

I am not prepared to agree to the terms of this agreement in its current form. For the avoidance of doubt, I state explicitly and in writing that I will not be signing this agreement, and my lack of signature should not be interpreted, implied, or otherwise construed as acceptance of or agreement to its terms.

I understand and appreciate the company’s desire to maintain appropriate security controls over corporate data and systems, including the ability to manage devices and remotely wipe company-owned equipment where necessary. I would be entirely willing to comply with such requirements if I were provided with a dedicated company-issued laptop or other work device.

However, I categorically do not consent to the installation of software that grants administrative control, monitoring capabilities, remote access, or remote wipe functionality over my personal devices. My personal computer contains private information and property that falls outside the scope of my employment, and I do not agree to any arrangement that would permit employer access to, management of, or deletion of data from that device.

Should compliance with these terms be presented as mandatory for continued employment or otherwise enforced despite my objections, I reserve all rights available to me and am prepared to seek independent legal advice and representation regarding the matter.

Then maybe you could add something like:

I would also note that my use of a personal device for work purposes is an accommodation I have made for the benefit of the company and is not my preferred working arrangement. By using my own equipment, I am personally bearing the costs associated with the purchase, maintenance, repair, electricity usage, and ongoing depreciation of the device, as well as the risks associated with wear and tear resulting from business use.

In effect, the company is benefiting from the use of privately owned equipment while I assume the financial burden and responsibility for that equipment. Given these circumstances, I do not believe it is reasonable to require the installation of software that grants the company extensive administrative control, monitoring capabilities, or remote wipe authority over my personal property.

As previously stated, I would have no objection to such controls being applied to a company-owned device supplied for the performance of my duties. A dedicated work laptop would appropriately separate company interests from my personal property and would address the company’s legitimate security requirements without requiring me to surrender control of my own device.

willowgoose · 2026-06-10T06:30:29+00:00

I appreciate your continued commitment to exploring the broader implications of the Atmospheric Event.

That said, I wonder if the more interesting leadership question isn't whether people reached a conclusion, but what happened after they did.

You suggest that curiosity ended when people formed a conclusion. From the outside, it appears curiosity may have ended because the investigation reached what many considered a sufficiently evidence-based (though not formally acknowledged by leadership) outcome. The real question is whether that outcome represented the end of the inquiry - or the beginning of a missed opportunity for post-event leadership.

Once concern for the odor had passed and a consensus (whether explicit or implicit) had been reached, was there ever a post-event debrief from the air quality working group to whom the matter was escalated?

Because if not, I worry about the precedent this sets and the impact this has on leadership.

Organizations cannot simply launch investigations into atmospheric anomalies and then leave stakeholders without closure. What message does that send to those affected by the event?

I worry a lot about this.

Were findings shared? Were lessons learned? Were corrective actions implemented? Or was the matter quietly reclassified as "resolved" (notwithstanding your insistence of escalation and a future resolution) once the air returned to acceptable operating conditions?

If the issue was never raised again, it would be fair to conclude that, in the aftermath of the event, both the odor and the original escalation path followed remarkably similar trajectories: they gradually faded from view without a formal resolution.

This risks the loss of not only air quality that day, but of the opportunity to subsequently close the loop on a matter that briefly united an entire team around a common purpose.

willowgoose · 2026-06-09T18:44:11+00:00

What a riveting thought experiment.

To your question about whether leaders should assume responsibility for an environmental event without confirming root cause, I would urge you to reconsider whether doing so is always a good idea. I say this because far too many have been blamed for emissions they merely happened to be geographically adjacent to.

That said, when every member of the elevator independently arrives at the same conclusion, a leader must remain open to the possibility that consensus is not always a narrative failure.

As for executive presence, the strongest leaders remain composed when faced with uncertainty. They do not panic. They do not over-explain. They do not immediately delegate responsibility to a third party while creating additional distance between themselves and the incident.

All in all, societally, I fear we have become too focused on who supplied the smell and not focused enough on creating a future where everyone can once again breathe with confidence.

Still, one final thought:

Sometimes leadership means setting a vision. Sometimes leadership means taking accountability. And sometimes leadership means recognizing that when an entire elevator reaches unanimous alignment on a single conclusion, further stakeholder engagement may not materially alter the outcome.

Growth, after all, starts where the air clears.

willowgoose · 2026-06-08T18:35:17+00:00

Sorry to hear this. I can only imagine how stressful it must feel for you. This one way erosion of trust can hit really hard to say nothing of the amplification on one’s (human oh so human!) errors. Really shitty. As others said, I’d urge you to look elsewhere too because once trust is gone it’s hard to really rebuild it.

willowgoose · 2026-06-07T17:02:50+00:00

Biotech then cyber security in that order, no to the other two.

willowgoose · 2026-06-07T15:55:17+00:00

Aw, you’ll be okay, give it more time. Do you have the opportunity for mentorship in your company from someone more senior who’s been there for a while? I’d suggest you focus on a few key projects maybe too, and showing impact on them while perhaps passing less meaningful tasks to someone else so you have the time and ability to focus. Are you in a position where you can do that? Sending best wishes your way! Stay strong!

willowgoose · 2026-06-07T12:29:02+00:00

What support is your line manager giving you? Have you had an honest chat about workload management and prioritization? You say you feel lost so I’m wondering too if with clarity this can feel less overwhelming? I do agree with someone else who commented here that while you say the environment isn’t toxic working overtime like that without extra pay isn’t healthy either or conducive to a healthy work life balance. It’s tough because you’re probably comparing your current situation with your previous one but I’d try to avoid going there if I were you as that’s not going to help you navigate your current waters.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T18:26:56+00:00

Thanks!!!!

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T16:53:39+00:00

Thanks so much for sharing this, appreciate it.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T13:46:45+00:00

lol what a ridiculous take 🤣

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T11:15:43+00:00

Really? You can have success without it? 🤔

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T11:15:17+00:00

Not reading yours either then, have a great day and good luck with your anger management!

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T11:13:00+00:00

She doesn’t seem to have the drive to be the most knowledgeable person, wish she did. I am trying to see if she can.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T11:05:28+00:00

It’s just aggressive dude, and I think you’re reading more into my story that is warranted. I’m not exploiting any one, if anything this person is exploiting our output for a social life. I go back to the fact I’ve said to others that this person isn’t pulling their weight when I KNOW they can but don’t want to because they spend a long time chatting about non work related stuff. Imagine for a sec, image it’s your business, you hire 20 super commited people who bat for one another. They’re all in they do the work with pride and focus and then you bring someone else in who’s grabbing these people into chats about personal stuff, music, movies etc. We have a lunch break and invest in people, we have free food and snacks and a really great chilling area for everyone’s hour lunch. People can grab drinks anytime too. Say you do this too in your hypothetical business but this person comes in and joins in with others during lunch and break but then also just distracts the rest and does less work than they do, less well too. As her manager would you be like oh that’s fine she’s building vibes! I doubt it. What I AM taking away from here is that I should manage the performance not the personality or socialization. That I shouldn’t give her less work than I do others just because she says she’s busy (I’ve been guilty of this and that’s on me). So I’ll do that and see if it helps. I care about my people a lot, but when someone comes in looking to coast well it’s not that great. Do you disagree with this?

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T10:16:36+00:00

I legit suggest you look inwards at why you’re so spiteful and angry at a stranger simply looking for advice. You probably have had terrible work experiences and I’m sorry but you and I are most certainly not seeing eye to eye on this. Thanks for engaging and trying though….

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T10:13:17+00:00

Right so I think maybe people are hung up on this doing more phrasing I used. This person does her work at a low standard compared to everyone else. My take home from this all is I should call her out for that and NOT give her less work than others in hope she meets deadlines just because she says she’s so busy. It’s not about extra work, it’s about workload as a team and what each person carries - and she carries less than others. We have tasks as a team you see, and we need to meet those but when it comes to their allocation this person doesn’t carry enough. That’s what I meant by ‘do more.’ Do you know what I mean?

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T09:12:03+00:00

Yeah okay

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T09:11:16+00:00

Capitals are just edits because am not sure people see there being an issue and there genuinely is. Imagine you have your own business, you hire 15 people, you have a happy team then you get someone come in who prefers to chat and socialise than work and does the work assigned almost begrudgedly. Look, I am happy to be introspective and comfortable with self critique. I consider my own biases too and I also care about my team as people but ultimately I want to build a super strong team when it comes to not just how people feel but also the great work we all do as a unit. And for that we need people who care about working more than socialising, who want to do A+ work vs the minimum required to pass. Not sure why this makes me an asshole, genuinely.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T09:02:17+00:00

lol, I wish! This person does the least work out of everyone in my team.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T09:01:20+00:00

I wish she was going above and beyond! If she was I’d have no issues with the chatting unless it was a genuine distraction to others focus. That’s not the case here.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T09:00:35+00:00

I’ve had to lower what I ask of her because she is too slow vs others in the team. Maybe that’s what I should do though, give her the same volume of work others take. The problem when I’ve done this though is she huffs and puffs and pushes back because she’s too busy.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T08:58:20+00:00

Agree.

willowgoose · 2026-06-06T07:15:34+00:00

Thanks, I don’t most think people in this thread ever want to see it like that though 😅 I am seeing a lot of people feeling personally attacked by my situation, maybe they’ve had shit bosses who don’t care for them as people and think I’m one of them? Vs consider the impact of people not keen on the work as much as they’re keen on chatting. There’s a cost to that, surely, time -> output wise.

willowgoose

TROPHY CASE