Page 122 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

PATIENTLY PROVE THAT YOU ARE BETTER
One of the smartest ways to get the better of your rivals is not to engage
them and certainly not to attack them directly, but just to look good by
contrast.
It helps to be aware of what your rival’s weaknesses are. Your objective
is not to exploit a weakness by embarrassing the rival. Your objective is
simply to show that you don’t have any similar weakness. To do that, you
may have to share more than you’re used to with the people above you.
I can remember having a rival who had a very senior subordinate with
a terrible alcohol problem. My rival decided to get rid of the person, qui-
etly. Alcoholism was never discussed—
his job was just eliminated.

USING Now, in most organizations, the peo-
COMPENSATION AS ple at the very top really do believe that
A POLITICAL TOOL they are benevolent despots and prefer
USUALLY not to think of their organization as so
BACKFIRES. very cold-hearted. So when I had a sim-
ilar problem, I went out, hired a coun-
selor and a psychiatrist, and walked my
employee through months of recovery, to the point of sending him away
to a rehabilitation center at company expense. I thought this person was
worth the trouble, and I was preserving a company asset.
But I also kept my bosses informed, allowing them to make the com-
parison between me and my rival—and to discover that I did not share
his desire to sweep problems under the rug. It also didn’t hurt that I’d rein-
forced their benevolent self-image.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER
OF THE POINTED QUESTION
Of course, it may benefit you now and then, not just to provide instructive
contrast,but also to actively alert your boss to your rivals’shortcomings.Gos-

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