Employee blocked by boss for promotion, blocks their boss from getting a job: '

Be careful how you treat people on your way up to the top because you never know who you'll run into on your way back down. You might be burning a bridge that you'll need to cross later on—or may find yourself getting burned and going up in flames along with it. 

This is sage advice that's passed around quite frequently when it comes to the discourse surrounding careers and employment. But, what this advice is missing is the root of the issue: You should treat people well because it's the right thing to do. Rather than being opportunistic and consumed by your own ambition, go out of your way to do the right thing and seek to understand the people around you. Even if your motivation is inherently self-serving, in the long term, treating other people with respect is always going to be the best move over the long course of your career. 

This boss didn't have this in mind when they decided to block their subordinate's chance at promotion. The boss was overcome with their desire to seize control in the midst of a power vacuum left by a vacant director's position, which saw them tyrannically taking over projects and throwing their weight around as if they already had the job, and when this employee had a chance to escape from under their thumb, the boss made sure to block their chances at getting that role. A move that would come back to bite them later on in their career..