Page 98 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

I always find it false when someone publicly announces at the end of a
project, “Well, it never would have been possible without Glenn, Sarah,
and Terry,” after the speaker has taken credit for every single aspect of the
project for months. The truly sophisticated player allows others to con-
tribute and gives them public credit along the way, during the real work-
ing meetings.
In return, you’ll have to sacrifice
IT’S NOT
being the carrier of all the positive mes-
IMPORTANT TO BE
sages. But the truth is that it’s not
THE SOLITARY
important to be the solitary genius who
GENIUS WHO
dreamed up, financed, and imple-
DREAMED UP,
mented a great plan all by yourself—or
FINANCED, AND
even desirable. What’s really valuable is
IMPLEMENTED A
showing over and over that you are the
GREAT PLAN ALL
kind of person other powerful people
BY YOURSELF.
want to work with.
WHAT’S REALLY
Of course, there’s a corollary to shar-
VALUABLE IS
ing success: You have to be equally gen-
SHOWING THAT
erous when things go wrong. Never ask
YOU ARE THE KIND
one of your peers to carry bad news for
OF PERSON OTHER
you. If there’s going to be a disaster in
POWERFUL PEOPLE
any part of the organization that you’re
WANT TO WORK
running, whether it’s a personnel issue
WITH.
or a financial issue, always inform the
boss yourself. Make an arrangement
with your boss. Figure out how late you can call her at night, and then
make sure that she hears about anything negative from your lips.
If, God forbid, you allow an enemy to deliver bad news before you do,
you are compounding the strikes against you. First, it looks as if you are
hiding this news. Second, your enemy gets credit for being a “team
player,” and you don’t. So your choice is castor oil—or a rocket fuel
enema. Ouch!

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