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Jim Citrin Leadership by Example

Jim Citrin, Leadership by Example

Executive Warfare: Making it to the Very Top

by Jim Citrin

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Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008, 12:00AM

Over the last four years, I have frequently recommended the book Career Warfare, by David D'Alessandro, when I wanted to provide real, down-and-dirty advice about how to manage your career. There is probably no better guidebook if you're climbing the corporate ladder to help you build your "personal brand" and understand how to thrive in a company setting.

Now, however, if you have already achieved a fairly senior level but want break through even higher, to the top echelon of a company, you are in luck. D'Alessandro, the outspoken and colorful former Chairman and CEO of John Hancock Financial Services, has just come out (with Michele Owens) with a gripping new book, Executive Warfare - 10 Rules of Engagement for Winning Your War for Success (McGraw Hill).

"Not for the Faint of Heart"

As D'Alessandro told me in our recent interview, "This book is not for the faint of heart. It is frank and deals directly with subjects few people write about, especially how to deal with circumstances driven by human nature in organizational settings." There are many pieces of valuable and actionable advice illustrated by memorable anecdotes in Executive Warfare. The instruction is so important because unlike success at an earlier stage of your career, when you simply have to be smart, hard-working, able to show results, and have a positive, can-do attitude, the game changes fundamentally as you rise.

"When you enter the executive suite," D'Alessandro says, "there are many new intense influences on your career. Suddenly many more people are paying attention to what you are doing and what you are not doing. You have to manage an incredibly tricky network of relationships simultaneously, in private and in public, and in a way that announces your ability to lead." He says that you need to be prepared to deal with a complex matrix of new bosses that includes peers and employees from other parts of the company, the media; even the spouses of other executives.

Your Immediate Boss

While D'Alessandro stresses the complex web of multiple bosses that you will acquire as you rise, he has invaluable advice about how to deal with that one person who still has the most short-term influence on your career -- your direct superior. "The relationship you have with your immediate boss is one of the oddest you'll have in life," he writes. "You generally don't choose this person. You generally don't care for this person, yet you have to honor and obey this person."

The first thing to understand about the relationship with the boss, according to D'Alessandro, is that it's a business transaction. "Don't think that it resembles that of student to teacher or parent to child. Real teachers are civic-minded. Real parents are self-sacrificing. In 35 years in organizational life, I have yet to meet the boss who is any such thing. Bosses are all interested in precisely the same thing - in having you make them look better. So it's your job to make sure you get something in return -- that they help you rise."

So, how do you optimize the relationship with your direct boss? By becoming the most trusted and valuable person in your boss's stable. Specifically:

* Give your boss the truth, even when it's unpleasant.

* Recognize that once a decision is made, even if you disagree with it and have argued against it, you must drop your opposition and execute to the best of your abilities.

* Help your boss "move the ball from here to there," in other words, understand your boss's top priority and help him or her make progress on this goal.

* Be loyal and discreet, no matter how incompetent or unpleasant the boss might be; never make the boss feel betrayed.

What to Do to Demonstrate Your Material for Higher Management

According to Executive Warfare, some of the other things that you need to do to appear to be material for higher management include the following:

* Learn how to present well. "Meetings are the stage on which you rise or fall, thrill or flop, so make sure that you know how to express yourself there. Quietly take lessons, even if you need to at your own expense."

* Study to understand what is really going on in areas outside your own. "By learning as much as you can about the organization as a whole, you are able to prove that you belong in a broader role."

* Take appropriate risks. "The worst sin is not to be able to understand the risks you face, either because you are so risk-averse that you say ‘No' to everything or because you have no risk filter whatsoever. Some managers become reckless in their risk taking because the pressure is on them to generate new revenue. Just as dangerous as these risk-lovers are those people who never saw a project they didn't want to kill."

* Be a team player (even if like most ambitious people, you are a ruthlessly competitive individualist). "It's not important to be the solitary genius who dreamed up, financed, and implemented a great plan all by yourself. What's really valuable is showing that you are the kind of person other powerful people want to work with."

Be Prepared for Scrutiny

My favorite anecdote from the book illustrates the principle that as you rise into higher management, you are being judged all the time. This is true even when you aren't working. "I was once in a general store in a small Vermont town," D'Alessandro writes about the time when he was Hancock's CEO. "I went to check out and by the cash register there was a board with copies of people's driver's licenses and the checks they'd bounced. And I saw one of my own employees there. It wasn't a very big check, something around $37.90. Every time I saw the guy after that, or glanced at his name on a list of possible promotions, I thought, ‘How responsible can he be?'"

Rivals and Outsiders

Just as there is a complex network of bosses out there, understand that as you rise in organizational life, so too are there many rivals for the top jobs. In order to handle your rivals intelligently, says D'Alessandro, you first need to know who they are. Your boss is a potential rival, as are the most visible of your own employees. Rivals can include executives from other organizations unfamiliar to you but who may have caught someone's eye at an industry conference or through an executive search. In a family business, the son or daughter who doesn't seem quite old enough for the job may be a rival.

Even the company's board members, especially those who are semi-retired, can be rivals, evidenced by the growing number of outside directors that have been drafted as interim CEOs only to become permanent. Executive Warfare has sharp advice for how to deal successfully with these myriad rivals. It also deals with other important issues that go into making it to the top: how to assemble your team, how to motivate the best people, how to influence the organization's culture, and how to deal with influential outsiders, such as clients, vendors, journalists, and professional advisors.

Schadenfreude

The truth about human nature, D'Alessandro suggests, is that some of the people in the complex matrix are actively - if secretly - rooting for you to fail. "Some of your peers will benefit directly if you go down in flames, and there are others with nothing to gain who simply enjoy a crash scene if they stumble across it." The frustrating reality is that some of the people judging you will inevitably be mean, power-mad, incompetent, or just plain crazy.

Nice Guys Finish...?

Given the complex, nuanced, and competitive necessities for reaching the top, do you have to be ruthless, manipulative or Machiavellian to succeed? "No," says D'Alessandro. "There are times you need to make certain you step back and maintain perspective so you can make appropriate decisions. And there are times you must have objectivity and coldness to do so. But I don't believe that you have to be either devious or a heartless machine. And no matter how tough the game gets, you are more likely to win if you maintain your sense of fun. In fact, practicing ruthlessness usually causes you to be a victim of other people's ruthlessness. If you don't believe me, ask Eliot Spitzer."

 

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  • A - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 7:48PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    No offense to the writer of the article itself, but the book described is a load of hogwash! My husband did every one of those stupid things on the list and ended up laid off. Maybe in a money-driven world, such advice would work. But we are not living in a money oriented universe! The corporate world puts no value on money and all the value in the world on ego and relationships! People who can make friends will win; people who make lots and lots of money for the company and hence don't have time to socialize will lose BIG. The bottom line is this, kids- to succeed in the work place, put down the freakin' math book and start chatting! Go out and party! No, you can't stay up all night studying! You'd be too tired to go to school and chitter-chatter the next day! My husband graduate with a 4.0 on both his BS and his Ph.D. He made so much money for the company that when they laid him off, they lost millions of dollar in contracts and had to have another round of layoffs to make up for the loss they incurred by laying off my husband. They invited him back and said they were "sorry", but who cares? He's done with those losers and moving on. The idiocy of the corporate world is one of the many reasons I am a trader!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 6:03PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Dude you've got to tell your boss to "POUND SAND" if he's cooking the books to make the stock price look more attractive.......That's probably going to mean your out the door or demoted......but it's the "RIGHT" thing to do!..........Contol your own destiny by doing your job and living within your means and you will not have to "SUCK UP" to the boss and even possibly develop friendships with co-workers that may be able to help you out down the road.

  • worldmap - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 2:46PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I think it is worth mentioning that if you have the ability in you to be a productive executive, and you have the requisite amount of knowledge about your vertical, it is far better to get some funding if you need it and start a newco. Better to pay that price. The end game is far more satisfying and it is a lot more fun along the way. If you try to rise through the ranks of a large corporation you stand little chance of the big payday and it is hell dealing with the endless miscreants along the way. I helped develop a company that finally did an equity offering and I am currently involved with a large international bank. I would trade my office, my bonus, my IRA and everything else to be back in a basement eating Chinese food talking about going live at our first customer site. (I am close to having my business plan ready.) If a person stays on at a large firm to fight needless battles with unstable people, what does that say about them?

  • El Viejo - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 12:08PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I've seen the top and it's not pretty there ... nice guys need not apply, the ones at the top are not your best friends or even anything remotely close ... they can have it I'd rather enjoy life .... live and be happy !

  • Baby boomer - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 10:38AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    As I probably wouldn't have read the book, I find the column interesting. As one who never quite made it to the executive level (VP or equivalent) and most probably never will, but has worked with those who have and been able to observe their actions and characteristics, I agree with the material presented. Not mentioned here, there is one characteristic that you must have and that is leadership ability. This is very different than managerial ability which you can learn and is taught in hundreds of schools and courses. Being an executive and a leader doesn't require that you be moral. History has dozens of examples of the immoral leaders.

  • Da Big Guy - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 9:11AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Jim..I hate being critical of your writing..No, secretly I hope that you are an absolute failure so we can dance on your fired carcass and poke fun at your misery (much as you have done to Eliot Spitzer). I am sorry, but this material has little substantive value to the vast audience and contains common sense that anyone with ANY education of life already has acquired! Keep trying!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 1:19AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This is all hogwash. Let me give a word of advice to the author. There is no book you will read that will help you move up the so called "corporate ladder" or whatever you suit wearing jockies call it. There is no course, seminar, teacher, or anything that will make you move up the "corporate ladder." You want some advice to moving up in this world? First off, people are who they are and they are either a likeable person, or a moron who people cant stand. They either get along with people and have a lot of friends, or they are backstabbers and dishonest. So the only thing that is going to determine if you move all the way up is your ability to be smart, quick, and a really likeable person. And this my friend does not get obtained from a book or seminar or even practice. Its just genetics. You are born the way you are. You ever notice that person who everyone hated in highschool. Guess what. That person is still hated. What about that popular energetic really nice guy or gal who everyone likes. Guess what, they are still liked by even more people. So there is no book or holy grail on moving up. You move up because you are good at what you do, you study hard to be the best performer at your job, and then you hope you are born with the flair to win people over and have charisma. Another word of advice, the whole "corporate ladder" thing is retarted. Why would you want to work for some corporation when in the end, they will probably just end up laying you off anyway. Go start your own business. Stop working for people.

  • Douglas - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 11:41PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    While this is a good article and unfortunately true, it would seem that most execs now-a-days are only interested in manipulation for their own benefit no matter what it does to others or the company itself. Just read the headlines. The mortgage problem is a direct result of this kind of behavior. The lendors knew what they were doing and knew the consequences but they didn't care as long as they got their paychecks. I've been in the corporate world for nearly 20 years now and I decided long ago to just sit back and laugh at all of it. I've made myself invaluable to my company so I get to pretty much write my own ticket while all of these execs try to manipulate things far beyond their own understanding only to eventually crash and burn in disgrace. All the time. I just do my job and collect my checks and plan for early retirement. The corporate ladder is not for the faint of heart OR the responsible of mind. It's just not worth it.

  • James - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:39PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Be yourself and you will do fine.Some of these suggestions may help you advance but if you put up a false image of yourself, your coworkers and supeiors will know.

  • Kl - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:30PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The reality is the corporate world is harsh. One can succeed without having to backstab and play those other games, but one has to be able to manipulate the environment to help the company AND help one's career. The key to my personal success (or lack thereof) is understanding that I don't understand everything. I try and build mutually beneficial alliances and reward those around me who do well. In addition, I've learned many lessons on how to deal with the "Milton's" (from Office Space) of the world. Those are the people who reach their "Peter Principle" at age 25 and remain a schmuck for the remainder of their career. Great article!

  • Irving - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 8:59PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    If you've never been there, you don't know how right this author is. All you "be a good person" 1-star posters, you don't know what you're talking about. It truly is a jungle out there.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 6:11PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Look, you don't have to view everyone as your enemy, especially co-workers. There are people who think this way, but in most organizations, they are in the minority. Those people tend to make it to middle management and they're done. Those people will never make it to senior management because when they get a peer review, it will contain words like, "selfish, political, divisive, combative, etc." Be a good human being first, a dedicated and hard working manager next, and of course, you will have to make shrewd business decisions which means thinking with your head instead of your heart. The problem comes in when people see their co-workers as enemies... sure, The Art of War applies to business, but you are at war with your competitors, and that's it. Everyone else is a strategic partner, from your co-workers, to vendors, suppliers, customers, etc. Thinking this way might lead a few people to success, but for the most part, all it does is make corporate America an unbearable place to work.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 5:47PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Puurly rittun...ths guy must hv gune to havrad bizness skul. Whut an idjit!

  • Don - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 4:11PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Is that all Citrin do is review someone elses book? How about Yahoo finding "experts" who have original ideas of their own to offer?

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 4:11PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Much of what's currently wrong with America is encapsulated in this article. We need to downsize the corporate crap and get back to our entrepreneurial roots. Productivity and valuable innovation - the real stuff, not the corporate make-work - should be rewarded rather than Machiavellian career management. We need people to be building "new ladders", not trying to climb the existing ones. If you want to get to the top of a Fortune 500 company and still respect yourself, start your own company and make it grow.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 1:54PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I enjoyed this article. Wanted to add that it's been my experinece that the super-successful tend to have significant skeletons in the closet, some of which aided in their rise. Many find these decisions difficult to live with later in life...even though most do so quietly.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 1:20PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Not bad, my advice is make sure everyone thinks you are a nice guy, that way when you have to be a jerk you automatically have people on your side. Nothing groundbreaking here but it really works. Working hard really has little to do with it. Remember Perception = Reality

  • Mike - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 1:01PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Jim - I think you need to research a little more about Mr D'Allessandro. Under his watch he converted a viable John Hancock Mutual Insurance Company ( owned by the policyowners) and converted it into a stock company supposedly to raise capital, when in essense he waited the the appropriate waiting period to sell the company to Manulife ( a Canadien Company) so he could personally reap ten of millions in equity compensation. This man sold out a Boston institution that was around for over 100 yrs and put thousands of loyal employees out of work. I don't believe we need role models like him.

  • Judson - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 12:06PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    The truth is that your seemingly closest friend in a company is the one who wants to see you stumble.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 10:46AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I guess Mr. Citrin is trying to play the Penelope Trunk game. Sadly it is true that corporate america is not built on performance and profits. Apparently, it's all about how you can destroy the person in the next cubicle, while you move into a higher position, and hopefully an office of your own. If that is so, then corporate america (with a small c & a, because of corporate ineptitude). I remember this one organization in a Global Funds Corporation, where they trashed peoples workstations, the manager was in his cubicle only from 9-10 a.m, and 4:30-5p.m., while he spent the inbetween times...flirting with the women in other departments. The middle-manager would come into everyone's cubicle to sit and chat, and to top it all off, the executive in charge...was flirting with the new male employee. This is YOUR CORPORATE AMERICA, that you put your hard earned dollars into stocks for these corporations. Your stocks go to paying for this inept stupidity, while China, Japan, and India are stealing profits. While you are trying to stick the knife into the person in the cubicle next to you to get ahead, someone in India, is helping their corporation gain even more market share, that will lead to your demise. This is the culture of this country. Yet, Citrin comes up with this idea that when opposing your boss, drop the argument, and augment the bosses wishes. However, the body called "Office Politics" basically renders this a joke. Most organizations if you back an unpopular idea of your boss, your peers will be there to basically take pot shots at you, and if you fail, it won't be your boss that you will have to worry about, but the peers who will be out to destroy you for your effort. Also, this garbage about loyalty? Memory serves me right Jim, that there is NO LOYALTY IN BUSINESS TODAY. Your employer owes YOU NOTHING, and yet you are supposed to be loyal? Doing one's job is one thing, but to be running corporate minefields and cannonfire is one thing, but loyalty only goes so far. That is why as I am writing the DOW is about 10,888 (which is 6 pts where it was when Bill Clinton left office..), and it shows no signs of bottoming out. Executives need to stop the luncheon circut and see what is going on below them. It is obvious that the only thing going on in corporate america, is the equivalence of a what a kid goes through in the second grade. That is why I am resigned to the fact that this country's economy is inept, and irrelevant as it becomes the property of Dubai, and India. Unless corporate america wakes up and smells the coffee, those in power now, will be under the power of a foreigner. This is what we get, with the mind games played in corporate america, as it is played like a "Reality TV" show. Paraphrasing Southwest Airlines..."America you are free to stick your heads in the sand." Corporate Executives included...as we get our *&%'s kicked by Dubai, and India!

  • RobertM - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 10:33AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Is this new or original? Don't think so! This whole article can be summarized as just "be professional". Taking your job seriously, be honest, work hard, have integrity, be a team player, and don't be an a**hole because it creates enemies. Doesn't hurt either to be good at what you do. Duh. Maybe I should write a book.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 10:18AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    This isn't just a good read for corporate ladder-climbers. Truth is (sadly) this permeates every profession. it happens with law firms, university staffs (where many pretend to be above it all, but they're not), charitable foundations, etc. Its human nature. Of course not everyone is like this but plenty are.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:54AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    America: We Can't Afford It... (greed is bad) http://nahnopenotquite.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/america-we-cant-afford-it/

  • John - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:43AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    yahoo, please correct the lack of journalistic integrity. "Launched in 1996, Associates is Amazon.com's affiliate marketing program. By linking to Amazon products and services you can add compelling content for your site visitors enjoyment and receive up to 15% in referral fees for doing so." is Jim an affiliate of amzn? a book report for a column? does yahoo pay you for this?

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:31AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    The deepest reality here is that most people in top positions of executive or political power are infected with the homosexual-sadistico-ugly_degenerate-power complex, as detailed in Gregory Klimov's excellent web site, which thoroughly explains this pathological syndrome: http://www.duel.ru/publish/new/lit/klimov/qa.htm

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:17AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Excellent analysis. Welcome to the jungle, baby.

  • Rodger - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:08AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I also suggest Machiavelli's "The Prince". This is the "Art of War" for politics and business, as there really is no diffference except that in business one generally does have to perform at a consistently high level to achieve success.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 8:58AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    This column was a sad reminder of why I left the corporate world. I've worked for too many bosses who did not reciprocate when it was my turn. One person rose through the company on the backs of his workers and was never home for his family. He was the smartest person I met yet he sold his soul to the devil by staying with one company and stepping over whoever he could to become CFO instead of having some morals and moving on to another company to succeed with his morals intact. Nice column Jim but it would be great if you had a manager in your network who rose to the top with his morals and ethics intact. There's nothing in your column that states David didn't but I suspect in many cases he did sacrifice his morals and ethics. If he did rise to the top honestly, that would have been the subject of the column and the book.

  • SandyLady - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 8:18AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Corporate ruthlessness plan for success at its best in a sheep's disguise! Sometimes socialism (would that be possible) would make for a much more productive company and employees without all the constant maneuvering. Speaking personally, I've never tried to stab, blackmail, or due dirty to any other employee or superior, not because I think I'm better or worse than anyone else. I just want to work, do a job well and get paid for it, perferably in that sequence. Sure there are rotten bosses and manipulative superiors, and back stabbing peers, but find out their motivations (without subscribing to them) and allow them to do themselves in (which usually happens eventually) and keep clear as much as you can. My heart and soul belongs to my Creator and my home and family, and I work towards that end. PERIOD AND PARAGRAPH. No company will EVER own me. And they should not own YOU, either!

  • Asa and Cuddles - Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 7:50AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The information in the article is good to know, and it was presented well. Thank you for a link to the book. Your rating of the article/writer should not depend on how that information makes you feel. If that were true CNN/Fox/MSNBC would all be the worst news stations on the planet and The Disney Channel would be the top rated. Rating an article 3 or less stars solely based on the fact that Corporate Culture is "bad" or "makes you feel icky inside" is a poor excuse. Rate the article for its merit or do not click the buttons.

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