In the latest edition of the “This Is Uncomfortable” advice column, “Work Drama”, host Reema Khrais unpacks your workplace headaches – from favoritism getting in the way of a promotion to persistent recruitment for the office kickball league. And she’s joined by Marketplace correspondent Kristin Schwab and host/correspondent Sabri Ben-Achour to help sort it all out. If you have any work drama going on, we want to hear about it! You can send it to us at uncomfortable@marketplace.org, leave a message at 347-RING-TIU, or fill out the form at the bottom of the page.Khrais and producer Alice Wilder shared some listener questions with Schwab and Ben-Achour, and here’s what they had to say (lightly edited for clarity and length):Question 1: “What do you do when your coworker keeps asking you to join their kickball league? Me and my coworkers have all said no already, but they keep asking and showing me the videos they create.” – Not a JockBen-Achour: Invent a child, or get a hobby and just be like, "Ah, I am so sorry. That is the exact time of my weaving class."Schwab: I wonder if it's just that this person wants to spend a little bit more time with you? Maybe you could suggest something else that is not on-going. Maybe it's lunch, a coffee, a something else. The “Uncomfortable” Verdict: If you really don’t want to give your co-worker a firm, “I’m not interested” then maybe offer another way to connect. You could go get a coffee or find another activity that’s not as much of a commitment …or if all else fails you could get creative with reasons why you can’t join, like, you know, you have an imaginary child, or hobby, or whatever. Question 2: “A year ago, I put in two months' notice at my job, and I'm still working there to this day. I'm a paralegal for a solo practitioner. I've worked for him for 10 years, and he's a great guy. I don't have another job that I'm trying to run to right now, and I just can't seem to actually leave. He interviewed a few people a couple months ago, but every day I go into work and I'm like, ‘Why am I dealing with this email? What am I still doing here?’ My husband and my friends don't understand why I haven't left. I just started going back to therapy to try and figure this out. Should I not show up to work one day? What's going on with me?” – Can't QuitKhrais: It sounds like she's feeling some kind of pressure to stay, and if it's just a solo practitioner, she probably has a close relationship with them, and so I imagine she feels some sense of obligation.Ben-Achour: It sounds like there are not strong boundaries at this workplace and that's probably what's keeping her there. It would be easier if she had a job that had a start date that she could be like, "I'm going." Maybe attach it to a trip. Go on a vacation and then you just don't come back. You just kinda ghost the place.Khrais: Oftentimes when you're trying to do something that's hard, it's easy to wait for a moment where you wake up one morning and you're like, "Okay, this is what I'm gonna do. I feel decisive about it, and this is it.” But I don't think all major life decisions are made that way, right? Like sometimes it is uncomfortable and sad and weird, but you just do it anyway, and you rip that Band-Aid.Schwab: Are you leaving to find new work, start your own thing, focus on your family? I guess I wonder what the goal is, and then maybe try to attach some timeline or small step towards that goal that helps you sort of end that relationship you have with your job.The “Uncomfortable” verdict: If you keep waiting for the perfect moment to leave, you might find yourself stuck. Try to get clear on why you want to leave this job and the goals you have for your career. Then give yourself a deadline and announce it to your boss.Question 3: “My boss has always been a bit loose on personal boundaries, but in a fun conversational way that involves everyone. However, there’s one coworker who she's super cliquey with: lots of walks together, texting personal pictures, et cetera. Eight months into the job, that coworker got a promotion from a position lower than mine to a position slightly higher than mine. I’ve been here longer than my coworker and have more advanced degrees. The boss didn’t have a direct say on this promotion, but I have a strong feeling that she put in a good word. My issue with this is that my boss is in a position of power, and whatever kind of friendship this is, it has a potential to impact promotional opportunities. The rest of us are missing out on special projects that could be adding to our resume and helping us move up eventually if the favoritism wasn't impacting the flow of work. Do I just let it go, move on, ignore it, or bring it up to management again or anything else?” – Can't Move Up Like ThisBen-Achour: Well, I have two thoughts. One is that that relationship between the two coworkers, it sounds a little much. Those kinds of relationships tend to explode. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some kind of blowout, where this relationship becomes a liability for either one of them. The other thing is relationships at jobs matter, and people who are schmoozy with the boss… it makes a difference! Schwab: They do matter. It takes one person to make a promotion, make a hire, make an advocate for you for a project.Khrais: I think one of the hardest workplace realizations is that people who rise to the top aren't necessarily always the most competent or the most intelligent. A lot of career growth comes from chemistry, from who's advocating for you, and that can feel very unfair.Wilder: Could this person go to their direct boss and be like: "Hey, I'm really interested in taking on more projects. Could we talk about something new that I could be assigned to?" People don't always know that that's something that you want.Ben-Achour: Be loud about how you want to move up, about how you want to advance. Have plans and suggestions for what you could be doing, how you could be helping. The more you're in people's ear, the more likely they'll think of you when a kernel of an opportunity is put in front of them to pass along.The “Uncomfortable” Verdict: You're clearly in a sticky situation. Things between your co-worker and boss might blow up or fizzle out on their own, so you could bide your time on that. In the meantime, be assertive about your own workplace goals. Connect with people on other teams and see if you can collaborate, and let your boss know that you’re looking for new challenges. Question 4: "My boss claims to forget things he said he would do. I'm not sure if he's actually forgetting or lying. We could have multiple meetings to discuss something, and then I bring it up over email, and he claims to suddenly know nothing about it. Others have validated my recollection when they're in meetings with us, but he gets mad when people suggest he's misremembering things. When I try to hold him accountable for not doing what he said he would, which is keeping me from being able to finish my part of the work, he denies it. He only wants to discuss things verbally. Without written documentation, it feels like it's my word against his, but he's ordered me not to write to him, so I feel like either way I can get in trouble.” – Just Want Paper TrailsSchwab: We need to send meeting notes, except that creates more work for you, but this is how managing up works sometimes. Ben-Achour: Could you have an AI note taker send notes to everybody at the end of the call?Schwab: Yeah, it takes the blame off you and the work off you. All you do is click a button.Khrais: It seems like engaging with him in this way and being like, "No, you're wrong," or, "You're misremembering," isn't working. So I'd stop trying to prove that he's forgetting or lying and move to how do we make sure this doesn't keep happening?Schwab: So maybe it's just about spitting out the facts of like, "Okay, well, if you can take care of this by Friday, then I can get this done by next Friday," or something, and, and making it all about the dates, deadlines, and the facts that are included there.The “Uncomfortable” Verdict: There's something fishy going on with your boss. It sounds like arguing with him about what he’s promised to do isn’t working. So if you work remotely, you could use an AI assistant to take notes on your calls. Or start doing daily, verbal check-ins with him about deadlines. Either way, taking detailed notes is a good idea, so that if you do end up needing to go to HR, you can make your own paper trail.Got a work problem you want some advice on? Email us at uncomfortable@marketplace.org, leave a message at 347-RING-TIU, or fill out the form below.