(I wrote this post almost 8 years ago. I have been reunited with the person who inspired the originally ire and am shocked these things are still working for him.....although since he has not left the last couple places on his own accord maybe they arent working?)
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Don’t make it about you, give credit where credit is due
At some point I am sure we have all worked with someone who is a shameless self-promoter, even at the expense of others. While not exhaustive these are actual “career development” tips I have received from people like this:
1.) Make every compliment about someone else also about you. For example Tina did an excellent job at X looks like my coaching is working.
2.) Show up early and stay late to every meeting when the crowd is thinner at the beginning and end you stand out more and will get chances to influence and make sure there is less opportunity for people to critique you.
3.) Compliment people via Chat on virtual meetings. It will make them feel good and it gets your logo there in Print for others to see the whole meeting. Especially effective if not a chat is occurring and it is a mix of leadership levels in the me
4.) Don’t be the first person to speak, let other people speak and then value add or thoughtfully critic. Then constantly remind people how you either saved a ton of work or it was successful because of your suggestion.
5.) Use forceful language to take credit for forgone conclusions. For example when you know a deliverable is in hand, casually say I am going to force\make\ this delivery by Friday. Or is there is harmony casually say I am going to get alignment on this issue.
6.) Poll people for their ideas on making the world a better place and sell the best ones up the chain as your own.
7.) Put as little of your decision’s in writing as possible until you can see if they have been successful then write glowing reviews about them to massive distributions lists set the tone of the email along the lines of rule #1
8.) Constantly remind people of how tough your job is. When they say how is it going? It has been grueling but we are coming out the other side. I can’t believe how challenging it has been but we made it. This has been a longest week of my life but worth it.
The problem with advice like this is it works, at least it appears to work in the short term. Long term it has consequences that can erode organizations from the inside.
1.) It robs the credit\appreciation bank of employees.
2.) Missed opportunity cost to invest in future talent because the source of the success is misidentified.
3.) Good people start to leave as promotions favor people not bringing in the actual results\doing the work.
4.) People stop being vulnerable, sharing ideas and taking risks which is fundamental to healthy teams.
5.) People who are close to the work and see the behavior know it doesn’t match reality and start to lose trust in leadership.
6.) As this is primarily a manage up issue Senior Leadership develops a skewed vision of reality that leads to poor decision making.
People do eventually see this type of behavior for the fraud that it is. So don’t give into it. Be authentic and big enough to help build others. I promise the pie does keep getting bigger.
The problem can be difficult to spot though if you aren’t in a position to move through a company. Watch for signs of “making it about them” or not passing credit on to the source. These are signs of an insecure leader who is going to leverage your potential for their own gain instead of invest in yours. If you find yourself in this position it is better to move on sooner rather than later.
If you are lucky enough to have the autonomy to move about the organization one of the best ways to insulate your organization from this is to take a page from Gregor Hohpe and ride the elevator(or better yet take the stairs) from the penthouse to the engine room of your organization every day. Build networks, encourage dialog and feedback. Remember the best way to encourage feedback is to act on the information you are receiving. Expanding this horizon will make sure you understand what is going on and have the model to ask the right questions when what someone is telling you doesn’t quite match reality.
Call people on behaviors. The saying the only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing applies to your company culture too. Make sure people are getting rewarded for the work they are doing. Nothing can drain a company faster than unappreciated or slighted employees giving up.
Appreciate people. Develop people and don’t make it about you.
