Stealing the Corner Office: The Winning Career Strategies They’ll Never Teach You in Business School

149 Pages·2014·1 MB·English

by  Brendan Reid

STEALING THE CORNER OFFICE
STEALING THE CORNER OFFICE
THE WINNING CAREER STRATEGIES
THEY’LL NEVER TEACH YOU
IN BUSINESS SCHOOL
By
BRENDAN REID
Copyright © 2014 by Brendan Reid All rights reserved under the Pan-American
and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in
whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the
publisher, The Career Press.
STEALING THE CORNER OFFICE
EDITED BY JODI BRANDON
TYPESET BY EILEEN MUNSON
Cover design by Howard Grossman
Printed in the U.S.A.
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-
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The Career Press, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reid, Brendan.
Stealing the corner office : the winning career strategies they’ll never teach
you in business school / by Brendan Reid.
pages cm
Includes index.
Summary: “Stealing the Corner Office is mandatory reading for smart,
hardworking managers who always wonder why their seemingly incompetent
superiors are so successful. It is a unique collection of controversial but highly
effective tactics for middle managers and aspiring executives who want learn
the real secrets for moving up the corporate ladder. Unlike virtually all other
business books--which are based on the assumption that corporations are
logical and fair--Stealing the Corner Office explores the unconventional tactics
logical and fair--Stealing the Corner Office explores the unconventional tactics
people less competent than you use to get ahead and stay ahead. It is your
proven playbook to thrive and win in an imperfect corporate world”-- Provided
by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-60163320-0 (paperback) -- ISBN 978-1-60163-441-2 (ebook) 1.
Executives--Promotions. 2. Career development. 3. Success in business. I. Title.
HD38.2.R446 2014
658.4’09--dc23
2014003194
Author’s Note
All company names referenced in this book are fictitious. They are used to
make the stories more enjoyable. Any likeness to a real company is accidental.
For my parents,
who gave me the gift of self-belief.
And for Aya,
who taught me the power of dedicating
yourself to something you love.
Acknowledgments
First, thanks to Aya for her unwavering love and support, and to my parents
for giving me the personal strength to take on my goals without fear or
reservation.
Thanks also to my close friends who were with me before my professional
journey even started. I hope you know how much your loyalty means to me.
A special thanks to the managers and executives I’ve worked with who
taught me that there is no single blueprint to success in the human corporation.
Finally, thank you to Arnold who saw potential in my work when many
others did not.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1:
Your Playing Field: Dispelling the Myth of Meritocracy
Chapter 2:
Your Mindset: Why You Have All the Wrong Priorities
Chapter 3:
Your Competition: Who’s Really Getting Ahead in Your Company?
Chapter 4:
Your Playbook: 7 Lessons to Steal the Corner Office
Chapter 5:
Checkpoint: Your New Career Perspective
Chapter 6:
Action: What You Can Do Tomorrow to Get Ahead
Conclusion:
Your Wakeup Call: Now, Make It Happen
Appendix: Your New Career Playbook
Notes
Index
About the Author
Introduction
I’m afraid to say I spent the first half of my career doing exactly all the wrong
things to get ahead. Somewhere in my formative years, like many young
managers, I got it into my head that the secret to success came from being
smarter, working harder, and executing reliably. I’ve since learned that these
pearls of conventional wisdom are not, in fact, the beacons to success in the
corporate world I’ve come to know. But who could really blame me? The
rhetoric is everywhere.
“Be results oriented”—never.
“Hold people accountable”—nope.
“Be passionate about your ideas”—definitely not.
We treat these mantras as gospel and to argue against them is business
sacrilege. I dare you to go into your next management meeting and tell the CEO
that it’s really not all about results—see what happens. Walk down the hall and
tell your staff that whatever they do, do not, under any circumstance present or
pursue ideas with too much passion—watch the looks you get. This mindset has
been drilled into us decade after decade, school after school, meeting after
meeting. It’s simply not up for debate—until now, I hope.
It seems every great success story begins with hard work and passion, and
ends with fame and fortune.
Margaret Thatcher told us, “I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top
without hard work. That is the recipe.” The Iron Lady can’t be wrong, can she?
But then, how does she account for my former boss who thought CAGR1 was
his favorite local radio station? Utterly inept at business analysis, but he had a
summer house on Cape Cod. That recipe doesn’t sound right, does it?
Colin Powell said, “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes
sweat, determination, and hard work.” Okay, but what about the operations VP I
worked with who thought a scattergraph2 was some hot new Instagram feature?
Zero business acumen, but he made a fortune on the acquisition. Sounds like
magic to me.
What took me 15 years to learn is that much of what we hold to be true about
success in business is not really true at all. All this rhetoric we honor as fact is
mostly just what successful people preach to justify the validity of their own