Well, well, looks who’s back… Hello gorgeous, nice to meet you again for part 3.
This third and last part about credibility will give the bad way to get credibility on the work floor. And please don’t use this post as a guide to achieve credibility in this way, but more as a tool to identify the people who do use this methods.
The ugly way
So you were curious to know how to get credibility (I should call it workcred, sounds cool amirite?) in a lesser good way, eh?
Well, here they are:
1. Go beyond (for your boss)
If you suck at your job and you’re afraid people will notice, then be good at sucking up at your boss. This is the ultimate way to get credibility, but only towards your boss or management.
Your direct colleagues will despise you, avoid you and probably talk badly behind your back.
But you won’t care anyways, would you? If you’re terrible enough to do what you do, you don’t care about what others think…
2. Be helpful towards your management
Every time you see your boss, say hello and ask them if they need help with anything. Certainly in meetings with other colleagues or even better… with higher management! Do you want that promotion really badly? Ask them if they need help or assistance, chances are big they don’t know you, but that will change after that! Bring them coffee or tea, even if they don’t ask for it, you never know.
3. Market yourself (in a bad way)
Remember what I wrote in part 2 about working out loud? If not, you either have a bad memory or you didn’t read it properly, but it’s no biggy, here it is:
Working Out Loud = Observable Work + Narrating Your Work
I wrote that you shouldn’t be quiet about your accomplishments or else direct colleagues or their manager would walk with the fame.
Well… you know where I’m getting at. Let others to most of the work and take all credits for you. Give me a better example of getting the job done while doing nothing, I’ll wait.
4. Talk the walk
Again, like in part 2, this one is close to the previous. Tell your boss you’re going to do what’s being asked, but instead of doing it yourself, be a slime and ask your colleagues to do it for you because you have to much work yourself. Once it’s done, go boast about it to your boss and tell them how much work you put into it, but you made it work, all by yourself of course…
5. Say yes
Bosses don’t like that you say no to them, because in your head it means you would disappoint them. Instead say yes, and like I wrote above, give it to the colleagues who can’t refuse.
“But what if they say no to me?”, you might ask. Well that’s easy, go complain to your boss and tell them your colleagues can’t do the work because they’re too lazy. Problem solved!
So that’s it, these are the top 5 bad ways to get credibility at work. And despite being bad ways, I’ve seen a lot of incompetent people getting higher in the hierarchy by doing exactly what I wrote above.
And once you’re above the glass ceiling it’s very easy to stay there. I had more bad managers than the opposite, sadly. But to end in a positive not, the ones who were good, were very, very good and I don’t have to write their names down as I know they will recognize themselves (if they actually read this blogpost of course).
And one last thing I would like to add:
If you haven’t read about the Peter Principle, you should. It clarifies why otherwise competent executives are completely incompetent as a manager.
But more importantly you have to read about the Dilbert Principle:
In
Scott Adamsmany cases the least competent, least smart people are promoted, simply because they’re the ones you don't want doing actual work. You want them ordering the doughnuts and yelling at people for not doing their assignments—you know, the easy work. Your heart surgeons and your computer programmers—your smart people—aren't in management. That principle was literally happening everywhere.
Don’t look up the latest news on Scott Adams, though, but what he wrote here is 100% what I saw happening. (of course exceptions do exist).
One of my next posts will be about how managers should be more transparent at work, but you will have to be patient 🙂
Cheers!