Page 94 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

body else adjusts their posture, their willingness to listen, their ideas. This
is not a full definition of leadership, only its most obvious symptom.
Presumably you are a room-changer—and so is every one of your real
opponents. If they are smart, your peers who are not room-changers
already understand that they will prob-
ably end up working for one of you.
Keep this in mind, however. Just
PRESUMABLY YOU
because your peers in the spectator seats
ARE A ROOM-
are not there in the ring with you and
CHANGER—AND
the other gladiators battling for the next
SO IS EVERY ONE
big promotion, that does not mean they
OF YOUR REAL
are passive or docile. Instead, they are
OPPONENTS.
going to work very hard to play the
Nero role here—thumbs up or thumbs
down—and will try to influence the outcome of the contest in a way favor-
able to themselves.
As a result, they can be the most valuable of allies ...or the most dan-
gerous of enemies.

CULTIVATING THE “CONSIGLIERI”
(ALSO KNOWN AS SUCKING UP)
Here is the source of the also-rans’ power: They are often trusted by the
boss in a way that you and the real contenders are not.
If you’re a contender, the boss knows your ambitions, knows that you’re
willing to take risks to promote yourself, and suspects that you might lead
her into recklessness. Most top executives are risk-averse. They’ve already
gotten to the top. They don’t need to take as much risk. They’ll take some
risk for the sake of the company, certainly, but they won’t take a lot of
unnecessary personal risk.
The people who are not in line for big promotions, on the other hand,
are seen by the bosses as disinterested and therefore saner judges of what’s

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