
From left to right, Gen. John J. Pershing, Gen. George C. Marshall and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Pershing was commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe in World War I, and later general of the armies. Marshall was Chief of Staff in World War II, and later Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of the forces invading Europe in World War II, and later President of the United States. Pershing was mentor to Marshall, Marshall was mentor to Eisenhower. Both mentoring relationships were formed outside any formal mentoring program. Photo of Gen. John J. Pershing courtesy U.S. Library of Congress. Photo of Gen. George C. Marshall courtesy U.S. National Archives. Photo of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower courtesy U.S. Library of Congress.
In Part I of this short series on "newbies," we explored how it feels to be in the role, and how to be more comfortable in it. In this part, we look for ways to build relationships with your colleagues and others in the workplace.
- Build rapport with peers
- You probably aren't alone in being a newbie. Help others when they ask, but don't foist help on those who haven't asked for it. Learn from others how to be a leader at your own level.
- Build rapport with superiors
- There are no quick ways to build rapport with superiors. It takes time and it takes care. Stay out of their way, learn what you're supposed to learn, practice humility, and be a leader among your peers.
- Establish credibility opportunistically
- Credibility comes when two things are in place: (a) you must be expected to have answers, and (b) you have those answers. Supplying answers when you aren't expected to have them risks seeming arrogant; not supplying them when you are expected to have them risks seeming incompetent. Wait for the right opportunities, and then deliver.
- Seek professional advice from the bottom up
- If you have questions, ask the lowest ranking person who might have the answer, then work your way up until you get what you need. Aiming too high might be seen as currying favor. See "Currying Favor," Point Lookout for June 8, 2005, for more.
- Seek personal advice elsewhere
- Don't seek personal advice in the workplace. It's a bad idea for most, but for anyone of low status, such as the newbie, it's especially risky.
- Find a true mentor
- Wait for the right opportunities,
and then deliver - Mentoring has been fashionable for some time, but budgets for mentoring programs have been cut in many organizations. Find a mentor truly interested in your career, even if it means going outside the formal mechanism.
- Learn how to handle newbies
- Someday, one of your responsibilities will be developing newbies like yourself. Watch how people handle you. You now have an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't. Few people take this opportunity; most tend to focus only on the content of the work.
- Learn how to connect with people in other professions
- Most workplaces contain a mix of professionals. Notice how your superiors relate to people in these other professions, and learn from their successes and failures.
- Learn about ethics
- Most of us would benefit from additional training in professional ethics. Pay special attention to the ethical choices of those more experienced than you are. Learn from their mistakes; learn from their deftness.
Someday, you'll be where your superiors are now. Notice who is succeeding and who isn't, and try to understand why. Their trials and successes are lessons to them and to you. Top
Next Issue
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Related articles
More articles on Workplace Politics:
When Leaders Fight
- Organizations often pretend that feuds between leaders do not exist. But when the two most powerful
people in your organization go head-to-head, everyone in the organization suffers. How can you survive
a feud between people above you in the org chart?
OODA at Work
- OODA is a model of decision-making that's especially useful in rapidly evolving environments, such as
combat, marketing, politics, and emergency management. Here's a brief overview.
Failure Foreordained
- Performance Improvement Plans help supervisors guide their subordinates toward improved performance.
But they can also be used to develop documentation to support termination. How can subordinates tell
whether a PIP is a real opportunity to improve?
Look Where You Aren't Looking
- Being blindsided by an adverse event could indicate the event's sudden, unexpected development. It can
also indicate a failure to anticipate what could have been reasonably anticipated. How can we improve
our ability to prepare for adverse events?
Exploiting Functional Fixedness: II
- A cognitive bias called functional fixedness causes difficulty in recognizing new uses for
familiar things. It also makes for difficulty in recognizing devious uses of everyday behaviors. Here's
Part II of a catalog of deviousness based on functional fixedness.
See also Workplace Politics and Managing Your Boss for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming January 20: Anticipating Absence: Quarantine and Isolation
- When the pandemic compels some knowledge workers to quarantine or isolate, we tend to treat them as if they were totally unavailable. But if they're willing and able to work, even part-time, they might be able to continue to contribute. To make this happen, work out conditions in advance. Available here and by RSS on January 20.
And on January 27: Cost Concerns: Comparisons
- When we assess the costs of different options for solving a problem, we must take care not to commit a variety of errors in approach. These errors can lead to flawed decisions. One activity at risk for error is comparing the costs of two options. Available here and by RSS on January 27.
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Public seminars
- The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power
Many
people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.
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- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- Bullet Points: Mastery or Madness?
Decis
ion-makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision-makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
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Beware any resource that speaks of "winning" at workplace politics or "defeating" it. You can benefit or not, but there is no score-keeping, and it isn't a game.
- Wikipedia has a nice article with a list of additional resources
- Some public libraries offer collections. Here's an example from Saskatoon.
- Check my own links collection
- LinkedIn's Office Politics discussion group