Ready for promotion?
Posted on 11/10/2005 10:34:14 AM PST by nickcarraway
Best road to the boardroom. Flattery will get you everywhere, according to author Westphal
So you've convinced your bosses that you're leadership material, but there are a few other people in the running for that next upper-level slot, the one that'll get you in there with the elite.
How do you ensure that you're the one who makes the grade?
The best strategy, according to a new study by a University of Texas professor of management, is to forget the golf games and power-point presentations. If you haven't figured this out already, James D. Westphal's study, The Other Pathway to the Boardroom, will point the way.
Simply put, be a brown-noser.
After surveying 1,012 senior managers and CEOs at 138 major U.S. companies, Westphal and research associate Ithai Stern discovered that "ingratiatory behaviour" toward your boss will do more to get you into the boardroom than any other strategy.
In other words, sucking up helps you climb the corporate ladder.
"I'm somewhat surprised that the effect was as strong as it was," Westphal said from his office at the University of Texas. "It even increases the likelihood for getting chosen as a successor to the CEO."
In this month's Fast Company magazine, Westphal and his colleague describe this ingratiating behaviour just the way you'd imagine: flatter the guy, do him a few casual favours and make a point of reinforcing his opinion.
They've got a statistical analysis to back them up. Over the course of one year, if you challenged the CEO's opinion one less time, complimented him on his ideas two more times and did just one personal favour, you increase by 64 per cent the likelihood of an appointment to the board where the CEO is director.
"People feel a natural obligation to help those who have ingratiated them," Westphal said.
And it wasn't so much that ingratiatory behaviour mattered, Westphal explained. The real kicker was that it dwarfed other factors, such as the size and performance of the manager's company.
"It was a pretty large model, yet ingratiation was the strongest predictor.
"In fact, there weren't other predictors at all."
Their evidence suggests "this is the most efficient pathway to getting to a higher level of the corporate elite, better even than friendship, which takes a long time to cultivate," Westphal said.
But before you become skilled at using this equal-opportunity tool - after all, it doesn't matter what school you're from if you're good at brown-nosing - you've got to figure out how to become leadership material.
Here's another place where a little creative thinking can go a long way.
According to executive consultant Joanne Graf, an attorney who specializes in working with the energy industry, a leader is made, not born.
While the commonly held view is that certain people are born leaders, Graf submits that anyone can become a leader. It takes, she says, a sufficiently compelling challenge and a commitment to seeing it through.
In fact, facing such a challenge often brings a sense of power and confidence. What's needed is the opportunity to make a difference and willingness to take a risk.
"When people believe passionately in what they're doing and why they're doing it, they become unstoppable," she writes.
Graf also considers it a myth that leaders are effective because of what they know.
While past experience and expertise are obviously of value, it's important to recognize how often your own knowledge can limit your horizons.
Any leaders seeking breakthroughs must be able to challenge what is known and investigate what is possible beyond that.
"After all," Graf writes, "if one already 'knows,' what new thinking is really possible?"
Graf also argues that leadership can be found at every level of an organization, but this untapped energy and commitment is rarely uncovered.
To build a leadership culture, she says, all leaders must take responsibility for its development, offering coaching and mentoring. Most importantly, there needs to be a willingness for leaders to share what they are learning from their own successes and failures.
"Leaders emerge in an environment that fosters leadership," Graf writes.
All it takes is creating a culture that encourages and rewards risk-taking and commitments.
What remains, then, once those leaders are on track, is their ability to suck up to the boss in order to get to the next level.
Narcissism is always an option.
"You aren't married?"
I am. My wife also works for herself, in a completely separate business. We have virtually no conflicts. I'm a lucky guy.
"Narcissism is always an option."
Well, I'm not flexible enough to kiss my own butt.
What's that smell???
The difference between a brown noser and a sh#thead is nothing more than depth perception
I always heard that it was a brown-noser with no brakes, lol...
Sadly, it's too late for me. Were I to become a Brown-Noser at this stage, people would see through it immediately - based upon my previous behavior...
And having "executive gray" hair never hurts either.
Another version to use at work
I am a bit of the anti brown noser, and truly enjoy verbally abusing those that are.
Probably why I never made it beyond E-7 in the AF, and it looks like I may stay at my presnt pay grade for a while longer in this job :)
I made the coffee.....strong. After that, I was denied coffee making "privileges".
It's been over 30 yrs since i was in the Air Force, but IIRC, once the noncoms got past Master and "progressed" to Senior and Chief, it seemed their brains drained out onto the floor.
Is that still the case these days?
The trick is to brown-nose the correct boss. This is where many brown-nosers go astray. There is also a problem with using the technique too long: once the goal has been achieved it may turn out that the rest of the staff has to be fired, which is not a good technique for further success.
Well keep at it, and one day you'll rise to a level where you'll have your own underlings to brown-nose you.
And this is how the Dem's operate....the real power is people...you brown nose with the electorate and voila you get into power!
They do -- it's called Organizational Behavior, usually taught by chop-haired feminist Sociology majors.
Pretty much
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