Winning over peer group must for big leap
Came across this amazing article and I think it does make lot of sense.
EVERYONE tries to impress his or her boss. The boss determines one’s raise, one’s bonus and possibly one’s promotion. It makes sense to literally “suck up” to the boss.
We all learn early in the game as to which are the boss’ hot buttons. We try to stay away from these. We try to put a positive spin to the matters that are close to the boss’ heart. And we are careful to make sure that the boss always looks like a hero in our words and in our written presentations, all the credit for any success is carefully ascribed to the boss who is capable only of brilliant insights.
The boss simply never does anything silly. The greatest of sovereigns are not immune to flattery. So there is no harm at all in letting your bosses believe that at least in your eyes they walk on water. I would only argue that a happy boss basking in your admiration is a necessary factor for your career to move in a positive direction.
But it is by no means a sufficient condition. If you really want to progress there are two very important constituencies which one ignores at one’s peril. The first group is one’s subordinates. They have to respect you. And respect is very different from fear or servility (usually driven by you guessed it. their selfish considerations!).
Subordinates respect you only if they see you as someone who can help them. They do not expect you to know all the details of their job, although such knowledge is definitely a source of respect. They expect you to be in a position to help them when they are in trouble.
Nowadays this kind of old-fashioned helping is known as “adding value”. If competition has cut prices and a salesperson cannot meet aggressive sales goals, you as the manager need to be able to intervene-argue for a price cut in your own organisation, deliver some promotion goodies or when needed renegotiate sales budgets. Subordinates dislike bosses who refuse help. “I know interest rates are up, competition is fierce, many things have changed that makes the budget goals virtually impossible to achieve, but these are your problems. As a boss, all I can do is to yell at you and goad you towards unrealistic goals.” Such an attitude is the kiss of death. Word gets around. You get placed in the category of a “zero value add” supervisor.
In the short run, your career might not take a hit because you are secure in your position with your boss. Over time, the whole organisation learns to distrust you and your special relationship with your boss actually becomes a negative. You ar an “incompetent sycophant“ and trust me you can forget about that brilliant career.
The second is your own peer group. This is usually more difficult as they are your natural rivals. But, I submit that even though they may not like you, you can and should earn their respect. They tend to respect deep technical knowledge and hard work. They tend to be harsh judges, but in many ways they are the fairest and the most useful ones.
From day one in an organisation, if you work diligently at earning their respect, it pays off in multiple ways. You can actually work on the “content” of your skills set not just its appearance. You can constructively take their inputs and over time they become your tough teachers.
Over the years as one’s career progress within one organisation or across different ones, the informal peer network keeps track of you and their words of praise however grudging becomes the best help for your own growth.
So boss of course; subordinates essential; peers...the real test!
EVERYONE tries to impress his or her boss. The boss determines one’s raise, one’s bonus and possibly one’s promotion. It makes sense to literally “suck up” to the boss.
We all learn early in the game as to which are the boss’ hot buttons. We try to stay away from these. We try to put a positive spin to the matters that are close to the boss’ heart. And we are careful to make sure that the boss always looks like a hero in our words and in our written presentations, all the credit for any success is carefully ascribed to the boss who is capable only of brilliant insights.
The boss simply never does anything silly. The greatest of sovereigns are not immune to flattery. So there is no harm at all in letting your bosses believe that at least in your eyes they walk on water. I would only argue that a happy boss basking in your admiration is a necessary factor for your career to move in a positive direction.
But it is by no means a sufficient condition. If you really want to progress there are two very important constituencies which one ignores at one’s peril. The first group is one’s subordinates. They have to respect you. And respect is very different from fear or servility (usually driven by you guessed it. their selfish considerations!).
Subordinates respect you only if they see you as someone who can help them. They do not expect you to know all the details of their job, although such knowledge is definitely a source of respect. They expect you to be in a position to help them when they are in trouble.
Nowadays this kind of old-fashioned helping is known as “adding value”. If competition has cut prices and a salesperson cannot meet aggressive sales goals, you as the manager need to be able to intervene-argue for a price cut in your own organisation, deliver some promotion goodies or when needed renegotiate sales budgets. Subordinates dislike bosses who refuse help. “I know interest rates are up, competition is fierce, many things have changed that makes the budget goals virtually impossible to achieve, but these are your problems. As a boss, all I can do is to yell at you and goad you towards unrealistic goals.” Such an attitude is the kiss of death. Word gets around. You get placed in the category of a “zero value add” supervisor.
In the short run, your career might not take a hit because you are secure in your position with your boss. Over time, the whole organisation learns to distrust you and your special relationship with your boss actually becomes a negative. You ar an “incompetent sycophant“ and trust me you can forget about that brilliant career.
The second is your own peer group. This is usually more difficult as they are your natural rivals. But, I submit that even though they may not like you, you can and should earn their respect. They tend to respect deep technical knowledge and hard work. They tend to be harsh judges, but in many ways they are the fairest and the most useful ones.
From day one in an organisation, if you work diligently at earning their respect, it pays off in multiple ways. You can actually work on the “content” of your skills set not just its appearance. You can constructively take their inputs and over time they become your tough teachers.
Over the years as one’s career progress within one organisation or across different ones, the informal peer network keeps track of you and their words of praise however grudging becomes the best help for your own growth.
So boss of course; subordinates essential; peers...the real test!
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