My Faux Paux At the Office This Year

[danaf]

I gave a small gift to a VP in another department because 1) I like & admire her, 2)she has helped me when I needed help, 3)we have a good rapport together 4) she made me feel welcome when I was new. In the past she reported to my boss and we have bs'd together about *stuff*.

And she took me out to lunch about a month ago which I really appreciated because GOD knows, my own boss never would. She's also told me that she would hire me any day in her dept. I considered her offer as a career path but ultimately decided against it because I want to go back to school.

My giving her a gift was completely innocent on my part. And she wasn't the only person I gave this type of gift to. I gave the same to another VP (in my department) and one to an IT person on equal footing as me. She doesn't know this of course. And the gift was just a jar of good jam. Nothing outrageous!

Folks, let me tell you....I will never do this again. Although she thanked me for the gift via an email, I can tell she felt extremely uncomfortable. There was some pushback in her email. Now I feel like a pariah for even doing this at all. I'm extremely intuitive and I'm getting bad vibes that I did this which is nuts. Simply I think she's a cool dude and wanted to give her a gift. It is not often I meet someone at the office or in life that I respect and like. I didn't think it was that big a deal and I honestly did not expect the reaction I received!

I thought about sending her an email to tell her all of this but decided that it is best left alone. God only knows why she was so uncomfortable but in a situation like this it is best to just leave alone and forget.

anyway - my faux paux this year. Never again!

[BKcrazy]

Oh, don't feel bad for thinking about someone and giving them a gift.
You sound like a really nice person....Don't even worry about it.

[lrprn]

There could be an executive order on the higher levels discouraging accepting Xmas gifts from employees. Those directives from the big HR bosses aren't unusual at this time of the year in corporate settings. Perhaps that's the real cause of her discomfort - not you specifically. Just another perspective to consider.... I think what you did was very thoughtful. I also agree that to pursue it won't make it better. Like you said, lesson learned.