Page 79 - Executive Warfare

Bosses

I guarantee that there are going to be questions in these meetings that
your boss is not going to know the answers to. And if you study, you will.
Your boss has a choice, really:“Do I turn
to Sally here, or do I sound like a dunce?
IF YOUR BOSS IS
You know what I’ll do? I’ll take the credit
CARRYING MOST
for hiring a smart person.”
OF YOUR WORK
Now the boss has to be a little more
INTO MEETINGS
careful because the CEO has heard you
WITH THE HIGHER-
offer something intelligent and will
UPS BUT LEAVING
make up her own mind about you. If
YOU OUT, THAT’S A
your boss criticizes you, a good CEO
PROBLEM. YOU
will now think, “I’ll discount this
JUST CANNOT
because Joe here is trying to tamp Sally
ALLOW IT.
down.”
At some point, if you have impressed
the CEO, she is going to initiate a con-
versation with you about your boss:“So how do you like working for Joe?”
You may find working for Joe about as enjoyable as having hives. But
you’d better understand that answering a question like this is the organi-
zational equivalent of crossing the open ocean in a one-person kayak.
The queen doesn’t care how dangerous such a question is for you
because she can’t be harmed by the answer. But unless you have an excep-
tionally good relationship with the monarchy, you’d better assume that
whatever you say will get back to the boss.
Being elusive and noncommittal and saying something vague like,
“Working for Joe is fine,” may seem like the smart strategy, but you risk
insulting the CEO with your lack of trust in her discretion.
The safest course is to say something specific and complimentary:“Joe
is really good at setting a direction for the group.”
On the other hand, if you have a certain confidence in your relation-
ship with the CEO, you might want to risk being more honest: “Joe is
really good at setting a direction for the group, although he doesn’t always

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