Otoharo!
Back in the days I worked, I was in a situation as you described. I was there several years, long enough to catch on to the underlying course of energy and then understood. Jealousy, even envy were there. I raised standards wihtout doing so directly and unwittingly. He did not want standards raised and I learned taht it was (this was a state level job) the state board of trustees wanted to hire only lifetime residents of the state. I was an out-of-stater. They did not have in-staters with the credentials I had. And to add pressure, the state was being sued and had to meet the same standards that I raised. What a mess when personality matters encroach upon professional matters.
finality
