Page 73 - Executive Warfare

Bosses

never tell stories about your boss. Never make the boss feel betrayed—
unless, of course, you are ready to grab the boss’s job, but we’ll get to that
in a minute.
Your goal here is to wind up as the most trusted person in the boss’s
stable. You want to be so trusted that you wind up as a de facto chief of
staff. And you want to do that for one reason—because then you will get
tremendous exposure to the most powerful people in your organization.
Other people will come to you with messages for your boss.Your boss will
send you out with messages for other
people. This is the smartest possible way
IF YOU ARE
of building your own network and
WORKING FOR A
broadening yourself without being dis-
BOSS WHO IS
loyal to your boss.
TRULY NOT
The downside to becoming the
AMBITIOUS—AND
favored implement in the boss’s drawer
HASN’T YET SET A
is that she will become dependent on
NEARBY
you. So it’s your job to make a pact with
RETIREMENT
your boss:“I’ll help you reach your own
DATE—THAT IS A
goals, but you have got to do something
PROBLEM.
for me, which is push me along.”
If you fail to have a conversation like
this with your boss, you are as dumb as
mud. As I said before, it’s all about them. It’s a good bet that your boss
does not spend much time thinking about you. So do not be lulled into
assuming that she will help you move up just because she likes you.
Don’t assume that she will know or care where you want to go unless
you tell her.
It’s up to you to make sure that this relationship is a deal. Ask,“If we’re
successful here, what’s going to happen to me?”
If the boss says, “Well, I can’t tell you for sure,” make sure that you talk
about some options.And try to make sure that the promises are enforceable.

53