The Corporate Player

I was at a lunch with current and past colleagues yesterday at Fish n Co. Most of us ordered the fish and chips aussie style and while the fish was alright, I was quite intrigued over the variation in the portion of the fish. On one pan the fish was stick out of the pan from side to side (huge!) and it was given to a petite female. Another pan had the fish sticking out halfway for a gentlemen. I had a pan with the fish so small, it touched neither side of the pan even. I would have raised it if we weren’t so immersed in our discussions that I didn’t want to break the flow of things. Seriously, can we have some QC please? The variation in the sizes of the fish was huge!

Anyway. I was listening intently when a certain individual (I do not know that individual) and the discussion went:

A: Is your boss xxx?

B: Yes, why you heard bout him?

A: Yeh

B: Good or bad things?

A: Not so good things. Heard he [fill in the gaps]

B: Really? No lei. He’s quite alright. Nice chap. Talks about things beyond work even. Knows his stuff quite well

While it is common for names and reputation to fly around in the corporate world, my thought is, while A was laughing away at someone who ‘doesn’t have a good reputation’, did he think about it for a while and figure what other may be saying about him too?

I can personally vouch for the fact that A is not really that well liked. The trick I employ in working with A is, to size up what kind of character he is, read his moves, pre-emp his next move in the different situations so that you know what he will want and ask for even before he does. Know his weaknesses, and partially fill that gap created by the weaknesses. He will eventually realize he cannot do without you. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Bad in the sense that you can be overly relied on. What’s worse than bad? You’re so glued to him, you can’t get out.

Lesson learnt : Always plan multiple escape routes along the way. Unless you want to be stuck at your job cause there is no one else who can do it better? At the same rate of pay (cause we all know, the ‘economy is just barely recovering’ yada yada) and he does his darness to make hopping elsewhere a nightmare.

Bottom line: Do not checkmate yourself. A wrong move, could seal your fate. Once the move is made and locked in, there is no turning back.

Next post: The Empty Vessel