Page 61 - Executive Warfare

Attitude, Risk, and Luck

thrown out of office because their party is suddenly unfashionable. In
1994, the people of Washington State got rid of a sitting Speaker of the
House, willing to sacrifice Tom Foley’s clout to express their displeasure
with the Democrats. The same kind of thing happens in universities and
businesses, too. If the last head of the English Department was a Victori-
anist and fantastically unpopular, and you are a Victorianist, well, guess
what? You are probably not going to be named department head.
So what can you do if you find yourself passed over for the promotion
you should have gotten? Make your own luck.

TRY THE BEN FRANKLIN METHOD OF ADVANCEMENT:
Fly a Kite with Keys in a Rainstorm
If you are passed over for a promotion, think about trying a new instru-
ment. Get assigned to task forces that cross divisions. Do whatever you
can to be exposed to different disciplines. Contribute in new ways. Make
sure you do all that you can to prove yourself, and then make it known
that you’re available to run a bigger show.
There are a lot of places, however, where you may never get the oppor-
tunity to test yourself outside your discipline because the discipline you
want to move into already has so many good people.
When I worked for Commercial
Credit, I knew there were armies of
strong business managers already doing IF YOU ARE
the kind of thing I wanted to do. Because PASSED OVER FOR
it was an old mutual insurance company A PROMOTION,
that had never had to fight for a stock THINK ABOUT
price, John Hancock was not as rich in TRYING A NEW
great managers. So when I got the INSTRUMENT.
chance to go to John Hancock, I leapt.
Even if you are sure that you’ve found
the right instrument, make sure that you are playing it in the right place. If

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