Getting Ahead the Prison Way

The corporate world is kind of like prison. Find the biggest guy there and become his best friend (I know the prison thing is get in a fight with him, but that would get you fired at many companies). Also find a gang to join, but is really for another article.

Now the biggest guy at the company may not be the CEO, or President, or anyone in a position of power. It may be a rising star that one day will run the whole show, but who currently is in need of whatever allies he can acquire. It may be the receptionist who holds the power of the good conference rooms in her hands. It may be the IT guy who can determine whether you will be working on the latest and greatest dual core machine or a relic from the Clinton administration.

Regardless of who the big guy is, get in good with him or her as early as possible. You don't need to suck up necessarily and in most cases the person with the power will have an innate ability to smell out suck-ups and ignore them. No, just show an interest in what they do and how they do it. In the case of the support staff, let them know in a subtle way that you value what they do and the way in which they do it. You would be shocked at how far just a little appreciation on your part goes to getting you the latest in technology and the prime office space.

If the big guy is your superior then a little sucking up is far more acceptable. Compliment him on his ideas occasionally. Don't go overboard with the praise, but don't hold back because you afraid he will think you are just playing to his ego. A little sucking-up is expected from subordinates, the ones that get in trouble are the ones that take it to extremes. A boss will usually have a suspicion whether his idea is weak or not. He will quickly recognize those that genuinely review his proposals and those that simply rubber stamp whatever has his name on the bottom.

In short, keep your eyes open and your mouth closed your first few eeks at any new job. There are patterns of power at any corporation that the outsider will never recognize. Let the patterns of power reveal themselves to you and you will have a far easier time integrating yourself into them.