Page 96 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

I always did the best I could. But Carol would make sure that the presi-
dent of the division, who listened to her, heard that I was needlessly
cruel.
He’d ask me, “How’d it go with Mike’s firing?”
I’d answer, “It went fine,” initially
having no idea that the dark mat had
IT IS CERTAIN THAT
been laid at my feet.
AT SOME POINT THE
“Well, that’s not the way I hear it,”
BIG BOSS WILL
the president would say. “I heard Mike
ASK THE
came out crying.”
“CONSIGLIERI”
“It wasn’t easy,” I’d say, “but I don’t
WHAT THEY THINK
remember any tears.”
OF YOU. THEY CAN
And in his eyes, because Carol had
DO YOU IN BEFORE
fed him this negativity, I was either
COFFEE IS SERVED.
insensitive or lying. It was a lose-lose sit-
uation for me.
Finally, after a series of these body blows, I’d had enough. The next time
my boss called me on the carpet for some personnel matter, I said, “Ah,
don’t tell me, let me guess. Carol has been in your office lately. Do you see
a pattern here?”
“Well,” he said, “do you and Carol not get along?”
“I don’t think we do, but that’s all I’m going to say. If you would like to
know how my next firing goes, why don’t you ask the person who gets
fired? There are two people in the room, not three.”
That worked because I was able to point out that Carol was not
disinterested—she had it in for me. And I managed to diminish her trust-
worthiness as an advisor.

LET THE CONSIGLIERI HELP YOU ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS
Cultivating the consiglieri is not just a smart defensive move. They can also
be extraordinarily helpful as you struggle to get things done.

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