30 AMERICANWAY
JULY 1 2007
B E A S U C K - U P
ILLUSTRATIONBY JOHNCUNEO
How’d you get interested in the flattery phe-
nomenon?
I’ve looked at hundreds of feedback
reports where people evaluate their bosses. The
bosses always say they don’t play favorites, but
theiremployeessay theydo.Bosses respond to
suckingup.
Flattery is everywhere in busi-
ness, but seldom is it discussed
openly.
Right. Employeeevaluations
always say, “reaches out across the
company” or “builds synergy.”Nobody
eversays, “effectively fawnsoverhigher
management.”Every leadersaystheyhate
suck-ups, butmanyof themcreateanenviron-
mentwherepeople learntosuckup.
What’s the real-world effect of sucking up?
It’s bad for the company. If you’re a stockholder or
a customer, do youwant people to devote all their
energy and time to playing games like this? And
employeeswhodon’t suckupwill get disgruntled if
theyseesuck-upsgettingahead.
You sayhollowpraisemakeshollow
leaders.Howso?
Ifwe’renotcareful,
we end up with shallow, superficial
game playing, rather than the reality
weneed.
How can managers avoid this
trap?
The best way to get out of the
trap is torealizeyoucan fall into it.
Do lots of people suck up to you?
No, but I’m
notpowerful.Whywouldyousuckup tome? Idon’t
control your life. The sucking up starts when you
control lotsof livesandmoneyandstatus.
FlatteryWillGetYouEverywhere
In a recent issue of
Strategy
+
Business
magazine, author and leadership trainerMarshall Goldsmith ex-
posed adirty little secret of theworkplace: Flattery— i.e., suckingup—works.We askedGoldsmith to
share his thoughtswithour brilliant, discerning readers (no suckingup intended).
— Chris Tucker
Boss Buttering 101
Officeflatterymay not get you everywhere,
but it’s a start. Some how-to tips:
1.MAstERthEARtofdEEp,MEsMERIzEd
EYECoNtACt.
Why?Because the boss is fasci-
nating: She deserves your undivided attention.
2. pARRotup.
Repeat the bigguy’s key slogans
and sayings inmeetings, reports, andmemos.
3. KNoWhER INtEREsts.
Ask about the kids,
theweekend at the lake, the latest episode of her
favoriteTV show.
Wrong:
“
24
is so unrealistic.Whendo they go
to the bathroom?”
Right:
“Isn’t JackBauer amazing?Nobody
tortures like he does!”
4. spREAdthEbuttER.
Don’t limit your fawn-
ing to just onemanager.What if he gets shipped
toToledo?
Source:
Business 2.0
It Figures
Ina surveyofmore than 1,000 senior
managers andCEOs atmajor companies,
UniversityofMichigan strategyprofessor
JamesWestphal andUniversityof Texas at
Austindoctoral student Ithai Stern found
definitiveproof that suckingupworks.
over a
12-month
period
, they found that
managerswho
chal-
lenged
theCEo fewer
times,
complimented
him/hermore times, and
did thebossat least
one
personal favor
were
64percent
more likely
tobeappointed toaboard
of directorswhere theCEo
wasalreadyadirector.
Source:
Fast Company
