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I've been a bit surprised by how many posts I've read lately complaining that the only way to get a job; to get promoted; to get a raise; to succeed at work.... Is to be a brown-nosed.
This hasn't even my experience for the most part. Sure, I've seen it happen occasionally, but it's been the exception rather than the rule.
I've been trying to decide if I'm just lucky to have not encountered a brown-nosing epidemic, or if maybe some people are too quick to cry favoritism and suck-ups. I bet if we had a list of possible behaviors, we cou,don't all agree 100% on what qualified under the brown- nose umbrella
What's your experience been like? How do you define brown-nosing? Had it affected your career?
Depends on your definition of brown nosing. If being friendly with your superiors and carrying on conversations with them on non work related issues is brown nosing, then we are probably all guilty. We want the people who sign our paychecks to like us .
I do think the people who survive long term are the ones who fly slightly under the radar, however. They make no waves, agree with every decision upper management makes, and generally sing the company song. There are some supervisors who see any questioning of company policies as being a rebel and not fitting in, and that is a shame because any good employer should want people who come up with new ideas and are not sheep. But often that is not the case.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6
People like to have excuses for why they don't do well. This is an easy one.
I agree. As a manager, I can't stand someone that tries to brown nose, and it would have the opposite effect. My superiors respect and encourage my disagreement as along as I can back it up.
With the right management chain, yes.. brown nosing works.. VERY well. I've been a few jobs that it was very apparent and distinctly put many at a disadvantage. They are also the same people that know how to look productive (happy to take busy work, hesitant or incapable to streamline) and seem knowledgable (regurgitation of discussions they heard from others without really quite understanding what they are talking about).
I've been a bit surprised by how many posts I've read lately complaining that the only way to get a job; to get promoted; to get a raise; to succeed at work.... Is to be a brown-nosed.
This hasn't even my experience for the most part. Sure, I've seen it happen occasionally, but it's been the exception rather than the rule.
I've been trying to decide if I'm just lucky to have not encountered a brown-nosing epidemic, or if maybe some people are too quick to cry favoritism and suck-ups. I bet if we had a list of possible behaviors, we cou,don't all agree 100% on what qualified under the brown- nose umbrella
What's your experience been like? How do you define brown-nosing? Had it affected your career?
There are quite a few people on this board who who are very anti-social (never talk to co-workers, don't get to know them outside of work, etc.) and they typically claim that anyone who is friendly/social to co-workers or bosses is 'brown-nosing'
There is definitely a social aspect to getting a new job (humans are social creatures, so that shouldn't be surprising), but that being said, most people don't get jobs because of sucking up to management. I think most people say that just to have an excuse to why they didn't get promoted.
I agree. As a manager, I can't stand someone that tries to brown nose, and it would have the opposite effect. My superiors respect and encourage my disagreement as along as I can back it up.
I won't go so far as to say that brown-nosing is the key to success. However, I would argue that likability is definitely a big factor. If your superiors don't like you, for whatever reason, you're probably not going to move up anytime soon.
That's awesome that your superiors encourage reasonable disagreement. As I have stated before, I wish some of you folks who work at awesome companies would be willing to share the names of these companies. I don't experience the same welcoming embrace when it comes to disagreeing with my superiors. For example, the other day my supervisor told me to do something one way, and I didn't think that it would produce the desired effect that we were looking for. So I went to another supervisor for a 2nd opinion. One way or another, she found out and was outraged.
"Why did you go to this supervisor?!?!"
"Because I was asking for a 2nd opinion. I wasn't sure if I was understanding your explanation, so I wanted to see if someone's explanation would provide clarification."
She made me do it her way and it ended up being incorrect, as I suspected. So I had to re-do it. I could tell she was extremely bitter with me during the following days. The way she talked to me over the phone, the way she started micro-managing the heck out of me all of a sudden. She was clearly not happy with me. This is the 2nd time I've experienced her providing me incorrect information. And she wonders why I ask for a 2nd opinion. Isn't it clear?
Anyway, the point of this is, if you're not on your boss' good side, you are probably going to have a difficult time moving up in the world.
Every place I've worked at with the exception of my current part time job, has absolutely valued brown-nosing over actual work. I've known so many people who were favorites of management, who did practically no work, or often made serious mistakes (I, of course, picked up their slack). I've decided that the next time I get a job that promotes brown-nosers, well...since I can't beat them, I'll join them.
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