“My “wish I had been ignited” horror story” by Scott Epter, Director of Strategy at IMC2

Susan:

In response to yet another great episode of DishyMix with Vince Thompson, I offer an anecdote in which I wish I had known the “make my boss look good” idea.

I had a boss for a long time who had always advised me to seek scope across the larger organization. When it came time for justifying promos, his peers needed to know me and think the world of me so that they were comfortable backing him.

I got a new boss, and asked him for opportunities to reach out to others, which he supported. Soon I was on a temporary staff assignment to our 3rd line and delighting my boss’ peers as well as his boss’ peers. Thinking he would appreciate my working independently, I neglected to bring him into the discussion, let alone make him look good.

When the next round of promos came up, my boss’ peers actually handed him my promotion (I had a mole inside the management group that gave me the skinny). My boss shot it down, fighting tooth and nail for somebody else that he had thought did more for his team and not the larger org. Not only did I lose the promo, I ended up causing a riff between my boss and his peers, quite the career-limiting move.

Had I only known to check in and make sure that what I was doing was aligning with his goals…well, you get the picture.

Thanks again for another great episode. The lines about the only advice coming from the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Jack Welch were spot on.

Vince Thompson on Being an Ignited Middle Manager, Universe Maps, The Bigger Yes and Your Personal BOD