This type thing will happen. One thing you will find at commercial plants is that people tend to get promoted based on technical abilities with no assessment, and therefore, no consideration being paid to their "people" abilities. You throw the mighty Phd after their name and it gets worse. I have found that the best way to deal with a "bully by title" type individual is to smile during the buttock chewing session followed by a simple "thank you for the coaching sir/miss, if I ever find myself in need of further coaching, my hope is that it will be by you, and that you conduct yourself in the same professional manner that you just did".The quickest way to diffuse a self centered, ego-maniacal bully is to show them that their unprofessional manners cannot break through your body armor.You will not lose any standing with your peers because of this and actually will gain ground if you remain professional, calm and cool during the incident.Remember there is still a chain of command at any organazation that has a management hierarchy. If your performance is up to the standards of your peers, then what some less than professional toad thinks is basically irrelevent in the big picture. You will find this type thing is not specific to nuclear power, and I think you will also find that the income situation outside of the protected area is not near as dandy as inside. If all they can do is chew a little hide from your derriere, who the flock cares. If they would be responsible for your leaving a great job, they can proclaim victory. Most plants have a saloon or two on the way home, stop after work, shoot a few games of pool, have a couple gustos, and show up the next day with a good attitude and of course.... fit for duty. MM2/ELT USS Nimitz CVN-68 80-84 BOHICA.
