STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Sounds like that woman is on a power-trip. Good luck!

Act completely normal when you transfer.. let your performance be the thing they judge, not what this woman says.. she clearly doesnt know what she is talking about!

It sucks to feel attacked, and anyone would be upset. If it makes you feel better, though, there's no point in proving each of her points wrong. She'll just make up new ones. It's probably more helpful to focus on what is really going on here. What is in it for her to criticize you like this? What does this criticism take away from you? A good guess is that she's fostering a split between you and the other managers. Why do you think this is? What have you heard through the grapevine? If you're leaving soon, is the manager trying to make you feel terrible for taking a promotion? Is she settting you up to do poorly in your new assignment? Is she making sure she won't be blamed for you not wanting to work in her division anymore? (I don't know how this works, though) It could be a lot of things.

The only thing I can pretty much say for sure, is that the piddly, vague complaints she came up with had nothing to do with what's going on. I wouldn't waste time trying to defend them to her. It's a game. She says "You dont' do x, y and z..." You knock yourself out to prove that you actually DO xy and z, and by the time you've done that (which by putting you on the defensive, you're already looking bad even though she's totally pulling this out of her ass) she can just say, "Well, I'm glad you're trying to straighten up, we'll see how it goes, and by the way I have some more complaints..." It's a never-ending loop, and a game you lose as soon as you respond. So I wouldn't respond, at least not to her.

I would, however, use this as a chance to strengthen ties with the other managers and your staff. A sort of humble "Wow, the DM said this and that, and I had no idea... I thought my long hours spoke for themselves but I guess everyone puts in long hours... I would never want to let down such a great team, that's why I fought so hard to have casual Fridays (or whatever)..." Blah blah blah. Just make the assumption that you're doing things right, weave them into the conversation as givens, not as assertions, and poormouth yourself at the same time. If they were a little mad, they'll be so excited you caved they will love you. If, more likely, they never were mad, it'll register that the DM is a bitch and you are an angel.

Also, a chat with HR, something like "My DM has raised some concerns. Here's some documentation addressing them. I just wanted something in my file in case this comes up again..." can go a long way toward making you look like the person that's harder to mess with.

Good luck!