No matter how many people work at your company, it only takes one or two people to change the game you’re playing. Choosing your alignments on the job can make all the difference in your career. In fact, forging alliances in the workplace is a lot like getting elected: it’s not the most popular candidate who wins, but the one who has proven himself/herself to be the most influential.
In terms of voting power, finding the right alignments is about courting individuals with the most votes that count. In other words, you can have all the friends in the world, head the Cheer Club, lead the league in strike-outs on your company softball team and generally have the popular vote, all without winning the election. Just ask Al Gore, who won the popular vote in the 2000 election, but lost the Electoral vote.
These viewpoints are most certainly capitalist. When you’re in a corporation, democracy doesn’t help you win the favor of your co-workers; your outcomes are determined by your relationships with key decision makers – those one or two consummate executives who have the most influence on your future with the company.
The corporate alliance is a very intimate one; for better or worse, you could be aligning yourself with someone who is very visible, influential and known throughout the company. A consummate executive also remembers that it’s not just the ally you’re courting, but everyone in his or her network.
No network, no connections – no payoff.
You must carefully research your choices when it comes to forming corporate alliances. If you are not vigilant about who you’re courting or their role within the organization, you could wind up aligning yourself with someone who is unpopular with higher management or on their way out of the firm. Such negative associations can do more harm than good.
Here are some quick tips for forming the right alliances in any corporate setting:
1) Spend time observing before you move: Don’t simply run into any situation without assessing it first. Spend time observing the environment, understanding pre-existing relationships and most importantly, determining what situations to avoid. Remember: others might see your entrance into the environment as an opportunity to bring you into their alliance. You want to be the one who makes the final decision.
2) Be clear on where you’re trying to go: Identify which direction you’d like to go within the company, so that you can you form alliances that are not only powerful, but also highly correlated with your final objectives.
3) Don’t forget about the power of being competent: You will have an easier time forming the right alliances if you are gaining a reputation as an outstanding performer. If you are mediocre, then a high flyer may not want to be part of your alliance. They are judging you the same way you are judging them.
To read more about playing the game at the top, please visit www.corporateclimb.net to purchase an advanced copy of How to Play The Game At the Top and receive free access to How to Play The Game At The Top 101 Course.
ABOUT FENORRIS PEARSON
Fenorris Pearson is the CEO of Global Consumer Innovation, INC (www.globalconsumerinnovation.com) and one of the youngest people ever to be a VP of two fortune 50 companies (Dell and Motorola), a feat he completed before turning age 40. An avid Philanthropist, Fenorris is currently serving on three boards: Alonzo Mourning Charities located in Miami, FL, Imagine Schools of Central Texas located in Austin, TX, and SIFE: Students In Free Enterprise. To find out more information visit www.corporateclimb.net.
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