Page 223 - Executive Warfare

Position

These people you meet outside your organization can prove very valu-
able if you find yourself shaken loose in some organizational upheaval.
They can also help you build a favor
bank the size of Lake Erie. You will
always know the right person to call, no BECOME WELL
matter what kind of help somebody KNOWN AS A
needs. PERSON WHO CAN
Become well known as a person who GET SOMETHING
can get something done. Almost never DONE. ALMOST
ask for a favor in return, and I promise NEVER ASK FOR A
you, you will be repaid amply when you FAVOR IN RETURN,
really need it. A lot of executives make AND YOU WILL BE
the mistake of thinking the favor system REPAID AMPLY
works only one way—in their favor— WHEN YOU REALLY
and they don’t understand why, at some NEED IT.
point, the goodwill dries up.
That’s just foolish. I’ve collected so
many chits over the years, I find that, even in retirement, there is almost
no one who won’t take my phone call.

STAY FREE
Even with a rich favor bank behind you, you may find that when you’re
pulled off one organizational breast,
there isn’t necessarily another one to
latch onto instantly. When you get into MAKE SURE THAT
the mid- to high-six-figure kinds of YOU ARE AS
jobs, there simply are not that many of FINANCIALLY
them out there. INDEPENDENT AS
I suggest, first, making sure that you YOU CAN POSSIBLY
are as financially independent as you BE.
can possibly be. If you cannot take care

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