Suck-Up Players
Suck-up players say “Just like you said,
boss“. The suck-up players are all about
fawning on their bosses. They shower
their managers with compliments, listen
to what they say as they nod and always
say yes. They might want to be bosses
one day, but rarely can they even fathom
themselves as CEOs or entrepreneurs.
Most bosses enjoy having a few suck-up
players. It strokes their egos, which is
what makes the suck-up players relatively
successful in winning the boss’ grace.
Power Aligners
“That’s not what we stand for. This
company believes in… “. Power aligners
seek power by aligning themselves with
power. They take on the same values as
the boss, of the company (or both) and
champion them as if they were their own.
Power aligners also tend to have more
power than suck-up players. In a way,
Power Aligners take a social approach
to power. They look at what the culture
seeks and promotes, and then they reflect
it back on them. The Sociopath Player
Power aligners use a smart strategy well
founded in psychology. To begin with, we
all like people who are like us (Cialdini,
2014) and power aligners mimic their
bosses personality and value. There is a
specific type of power aligner, and they
are the most dangerous called “slipstream
power players” because they mimic
the overtaking technique. Similar to
slipstream overtaking, slipstream players
align to the boss today, to overtake him
tomorrow. Their attitude and belief is that “I so
deserve the top spot that I shouldn’t even
work for it“. Sociopaths follow the Pareto
rule. They focus 80% on office politics and
20% on actual work. Given how successful
some of them are, we might even wonder
what’s more important. In a nutshell,
though, sociopaths see the workplace as a
big chess board and they have little to no
empathy for people. That makes it easier
for them to actually move people as if they
were inanimate objects.
Leaders should always be watchful of
reports that are “a little bit too much like
them” and “a little bit too supportive”.
Some of them might be preparing the
ground for their own reign. And one
thing, you can rest assured of is, as their
former bosses, your head will be the first
to roll. A good example is a historical
reference, Brutus. He first became one of
Caesar’s favorite and most loyal senator.
And then he championed the palace
intrigue that stabbed Caesar in the back,
this time more literally, and plunged
Rome into chaos. They consider themselves superior to
everyone else and deserving of top
management positions. Many sociopaths
cannot stick to long years of continuous
work which might put them at a
disadvantage. However, many sociopaths
have superficial charm, are smooth talkers
and are very good manipulators.
Never, ever attack a power aligner
publicly. And God forbid, do not even
think of calling their game out. The deck
is stacked against you. When you attack
them frontally it is as if you’re attacking
your whole company. The powers that be
are on their side, the values they (pretend
to) espouse are the company’s values and,
never forget, bosses love having watchdogs
who help them control the herd.
Younger female sociopaths are some
of the most dangerous specimens of
corporate political players. Why? Simple,
because male bosses are far (far) easier
to bamboozle with charm and sexual
innuendos. And full-on sex is not even
always needed, that is how dumb some
men are.
Elizabeth Holmes, (the founder and
former CEO of Theranos, a now-defunct
company known for incorrectly claiming
to have revolutionized blood testing using
surprisingly small volumes of blood, such
as from a finger prick), built a whole
empire bamboozling investors, media and
the who’s who board of directors which
included former US secretary of state
Henry Kissinger and defense secretary,
star-general James Mattis.
How to beat sociopaths is that you
must match their political savvy while
delivering superior results and making
sure people know who is delivering. At
parity of political dexterity, then your
superior results can win the day.
In conclusion, in public good games, if
everyone contributes and nobody abuses
the system, it is possible for everyone
to win. On the other hand, public good
environments are ripe for abuse. And
that is where the office politics fester.
Politickers are not playing for fair
distribution or team victory. They are in to
take for themselves as much as possible.
And the office and life in general, largely
makes it possible for them to do so.
Joe Nyutu is a marketing and
strategy consultant who teaches
marketing on part-time basis at a
local leading university and can
be reached via: Nyutu1kj@yahoo.
com.