Brown-Nosing 101

Career Tip #13 - Take Some Initiative (Get Out From Behind Your Desk!)

Think about the Brown-Nosers you’ve known. What’s the first thing they do when they hear the boss or some other VIP (very important person) coming down the hall? They get up, put on their jacket (that hasn’t been worn in days, if at all) and step out to ‘accidentally’ bump into him or her, say "hello", offer a compliment, share a story or ask a question.

The rest of us roll our eyes and snicker behind the Brown-Nosers back, but the next time the VIP comes by, who does he say "hello" to, by name? You guessed it. Your Brown-Nosing colleague. Why? Because he knows the Brown-Noser. Not very many of us walk up to complete strangers and start a conversation. Why do you think this is different at work?

 Wouldn’t it be nice if the VIP said "hello" or asked about your work? He might, if he only knew who you were. How is he to know who you are if you don’t look up, don’t nod, smile or acknowledge him in some way?

Take a lesson from the Brown-Nosers. Take the initiative. Be friendly and approachable. Make it easy for the VIP to know you. Go first. If yours is a small organization, at the very least you should raise your head and make an effort to say "hello." Just smiling at someone and calling him or her by their name is a courteous thing to do. Do this with everyone you see. You just never know who might be in the right place at the right time to mention your name.

 

Building Alliances with Positioning Skill

Positioning is one of the greatest brown-nosing skills in the brown-noser's arsenal and it is one that all of us would be wise to understand and learn.  During these troubled times, when people are somewhat uneasy about their positions at work, is not the time to keep your head down and not rock the boat.  Now is the time to step up and show how you add real value by positioning your ideas in a way that illustrates you have the organization's best interest in mind.  It also helps you build alliances which fortifies your professional network -  always a good thing, but even more important now.  Here's a simple example from the book, Brown-Nosing 101: A career survival manuel for the rest of us, that shows how this can be done. 

I once overheard a conversation about trade show booths. A group of marketing and sales people were discussing how best to increase their product's exposure at national trade shows. The booth that the trade show team set up to present the company had been in use for many years and was universally deemed to be a bit dated and ineffective. During the course of the conversation, one member of the team said, rather forcefully, “Look, we need to invest in something new. Let’s face it, this thing is terrible.”

While most people in the room agreed, but I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “What if someone in this room had originally suggested the booth that was currently being used? By saying it was terrible, is it possible that the person might feel threatened or offended? Might that person begin to think that he made a bad decision? Or that he was being challenged?  Might it put him on the defensive for making the original decision?" 

Now, in all fairness, the critics were quite right: I saw the booth--it was terrible. Sometimes, with the passage of time, good ideas become bad ones. It would be nice if everyone recognized this and get over any personal attachment they have to ideas that have passed their time. However, I am well aware that not everyone feels the same way I do.

 

Career Tip # 12 - Don't be angry with Brown-Nosers

To insure that the information I share in this blog, my book and with my students is current, I regularly review the web and current literature for new information about job, career, psychological, organizational, social and societal trends.  One startling trend that I have noticed is that a lot more people are angry these days!

Over the weekend I was reviewing what others are saying about brown-nosing and it is not very nice.  Many bloggers were using profanity and expletives to describe their brown-nosing cohorts and it is clear that people seem to think that there is an inherent unfairness to recognizing the contribution of brown-nosers at work.  This seems to bring to life the results of a study that was mentioned in one of my Organizational Behavior text books - that 24% of people in the workforce are chronically angry.

24%!  That's one out of every 4 of you is always pissed off about something.  For the love of God, people, snap out of it!

Let me try to reason with you.  As a rational human being, do you honestly think that management will take you seriously or consider you for positions with additional responsibilty (which bring with them added stress) if you can't manage the stress at your current level - which may be manifesting itself as anger? 

Do you think that your peers, colleagues and others who are influencers in the organization will want to work with you?  Do you think that people who know you will testify to your strength, stability of character and work?  No one wants to be around angry people unless they are angry themselves. 

The term "go postal" was coined for a reason and most managers are constantly on the lookout for people who might have this kind of negative potential.  I'm not saying those angry 24% are all capable of violence, but how is a manager to know where your particular tipping point might be?

Anger is an emotion, so let's do a little analysis and see if we can make you THINK instead of respond emotionally.....

Brown-Nosing and recession

If the economic indicators are right, it looks like we will be in for a bumpy ride for a while longer.  Difficult economic times always make for interesting career times since increases in unemployment usually force people to rethink their lives in ways that the status quo does not typically encourage.  So too, do other unexpected events in our lives.

Brown nosers and Paranoia

Those of you who know me know that I'm a cancer survivor --- three years and counting.  These past couple of weeks have been my semi-annual round of appointments -- MRIs, oncologist appointments, follow up visits with the surgeon ---- along with the some additional ultra sounds and a visit with the dermatologist.

I was sitting in one of these appointments when I started thinking that many people refuse to use the powerful skills that brown-nosers use (remaining visible, positioning, networking and connecting) because they are afraid of how they will be perceived.  Some of them are even paranoid that in todays corporate environment it is best to keep a low profile since they are uneasy about their ability to keep their jobs. 

But does this make sense?  In an environment where one's ability to add measureable value is of paramount importance, does it make sense to dial back your efforts?  It seems to me that now, more than ever, it is time to help the organization fully realize just how valuable you are. Now, more than ever, it is time to do something different. 

Think about it...

L

Career Stalled? Passed over for a promotion?

I just heard from a reader who is really ticked off.  Apparently he was passed over for a promotion by someone who was "not as qualified" as he believes he is.  This has stalled his career and is now making him wonder if he should move on.  I'm not here to dispute the fact that qualified people are passed over for promotions all the time.  It happens more than we'd like to admit but there aren't enough promotions for everyone, so what I'd like to do is question the presumption about qualifications. 

What does 'qualified' mean?  Two days ago I asked if you were a brown-nosing cynic and gave a mini lesson, Organizations and Careers 101.  You'll recall that the skills required to be effective at your job change as you move up the food chain. 

At lower levels you need to be able to hunt and gather but as you move up you need to be able to organize the hunting and gathering parties, direct the members and their efforts and eventually be able to spot where the best hunting grounds are located.

Sometimes, only marginally good  hunters are very good at getting others to follow them and sometimes those people who are good at locating hunting grounds are terrible hunters.  Most of the time these things don't matter because the 'work' that they are doing as they move up the food chain is different than the work they did as a hunter or gatherer. (Read the post of April 6th for a refresher).

Golf, Business and Building Relationships

I have a simple lesson for you today....

A friend just called me to tell me he was going to play golf with his boss in the morning.   I asked him,"What's your plan for the day?"  He knows me well enough to know that I was asking him how he expected to continue building a strong relationship with his boss using this opportunity.

There are a great number of ways he could do this - but his response seemed astute and responsible. "I intend to lose by only a few strokes."

Why do I think this is wise?  Because it indicates an understanding that EVERYONE, including his boss, has an ego.  Since the boss knows he's invited someone with a lower handicap, if he loses by a wide margin, that could seem patronizing.  If he wins by a wide margin, that could cause the boss some ego consequences of his own, so in this case it seemed wise to err on the side of caution.

Do you know yourself well enough to know if you are in the right career?

I typically spend my mornings in quiet contemplation (occasionally interrupted by barking dogs).  I like to take an inventory of all of the goodness in my life - my blessings - give thanks for what can only be described as abundance in all these things, and then think about how I might best use my unique set of skills to make the world a better place that day.  I'll often do some spiritual or inspirational reading to help me 'get my mind right'.

This morning I read a review of a book by J. Krishnamurti, Life Ahead: On Learning and the Search for Meaning, (New World Library).  Since I'm interested in learning and education I found Krishnamurti's comments intriguing.  In the book, Krishnamurti says, " The more you know yourself through awareness of what you are thinking, what you are feeling, the more you will discover the truth of what is; and it is this truth that will help you be free."

Most of us are longing to be free of the bonds that have been placed on our abilities in our workplaces.  Most of us want to offer our uniqueness to make the world a better place.  The challenge we face is that most of us are so busy doing our jobs that we spend very little time thinking about who we are and what we offer.  What we can offer is often much different than what we are actually doing.

My Dog Kayla Doesn't Brown-Nose

I've already shared stories about two of my dogs - Loosha, the biggest brown-noser I know, and Strider, the little guy that uses the size and power of his big canine sisters to get noticed.  And then there's Kayla.

Kayla was a shelter puppy.  While searching for a companion for my Rottweiler I spotted her in our local animal control.  (A very sad place that can make your heart break if you are not careful).  Over the course of an hour I took a couple of puppies into the 'bonding' area but none of them seemed the right match for me or the personality of the Rotty.  Then, as I was about to leave.  I spotted her. 

"You're a pretty little thing," I heard myself saying.  An obvious German Shepherd and Greyhound mix she had the coloring and size of a shepherd with floppy ears and the enlongated, narrow nose and face of a greyhound with the most beautiful eyes, lined in black I'd ever seen.  Once in the bonding area, she rolled over on her back and licked my face.  I was smitten.

Kayla has been with us for 4 years now and it is very apparent that she is NOT a brown-noser.  She is friendly, but aloof.  She'll say hello, then quickly go back to her 'job' chasing squirrels and hunting for lizards and moles in the yard.  She's good at it. She's caught all kinds of critters ---- but while she's out doing her job, her brown-nosing 'sister' Loosha is inside getting all kinds of attention and treats.