Pretty judgmental. There are many people here with sr. mgmt. experience.
And how do you know management doesn't view GW as the problem and they are trying to evaluate GW?
How do you know GW perspective is that of senior management?
There is obviously a lot we don't know that only the OP does; company culture, reputation of the BB, the OP past interactions with the BB, and even some basics like how big the company is and the OPs length of service, current position, and how GW last review went. All of these are important factors in figuring out how to approach the meeting.
Clearly I am in the minority here in that I view this meeting as opportunity to fix a problem, and most of you view it as potential trap. As you said lots of people had senior management experience, and I know many people have had more years and managed much larger organizations than the few dozen I did. Which is why I am surprised by the responses. If forum members who were senior managers routinely set up meeting with folks two or more levels down the organization to talk about morale and management issues, with the hidden agenda to identify and root out malcontent, than I stand corrected and Andy Grove's famous saying "only the paranoid survive" is worth heeding. On the other hand if forum middle/senior manager i.e. the BB, generally set up meetings with folks like GW to help them identify bad managers in their organization, than I am not sure why they would assume the worse for GW's BB.
I'd also point out that some organization are more hierarchical than others. For instance I suspect SamClem as senior Air Force officer often had a command of a large organization but the military operates under a strict chain of command. So privates don't wander in to Colonel's office and say my boss sucks and just as importantly Col. don't stop by the barracks and ask privates how do you like your Sargent. On the other my company had a very loose hierarchy and you were supposed to meet with your boss's boss several times per year, and direct communication between senior VPs and individual contributors was very common. Many tech/Silicon Valley companies have practically no hierarchy, and shooting off a email or instant message to the CEO happens all the time. If GW has had routine meetings with the BB on other matters, than I'd be much less concern than if this their first meeting.
My original didn't get posted. It agreed with Samclem and added:
- don't be afraid to ask questions before you talk to get an idea of senior management's position
- are others going to be spoken with?
- what you say is an reflection on you
- focus on issues important to senior management
All very sensible advice. My disagreement is not with any of the specific advice, but rather should approach this meeting as opportunity or a minefield.
Assuming your BB is competent he is aware of some of your Boss's shortcoming, via direct observation and/or HR reports from exit interviews. If everybody in the dept. says naw nothing wrong with our boss he is fine, than BB can treat the exit interview of just whining by quitters and nothing will change. If on the other hand, BB gets feedback that your boss is rude and abusive than the BB has a problem; the management style of your boss. A bad boss is not only a problem for you but also for your boss, since HR probably has sent reports of the turnover complaints to the BB boss and the turnover can't be good for productivity.
The cautions in the thread are probably wise, but it is also very possible that you and the BB are allies not adversaries . So yes your complaints about your boss may get back to him, but quite possibly in the form of a stern warning from the BB, "If you continue to be rude and abusive of company employees you will be fired." IMO chasten bosses are fun to watch as they struggle to be nice to everybody in order to save their jobs.