You can look at all the impatience, denial, avoidance, and outright lying going on at the highest levels of American enterprise and become cynical and resentful. Or you can say, "Well, all right then," to all of it. Whether you fully understand it or not, it is what it is. A fellow I know recently defined "resentment" as drinking poison then waiting for the other person to die. No resentment here. No cynicism either. Just reality. Your challenge is what to do in spite of the impatience, denial, avoidance, and outright lying going on in your organization. It's there, more in some companies than others. But it's there. And scenarios played out in the executive suite are replicated in smaller scenarios in managers' offices everywhere. To stop fighting 'em and join 'em doesn't mean adopting their values. It means learning how to operate effectively in their environment. As long as you swim in the same fishbowl, there is no avoiding the ethical construct and behaviors around you.

Drinking Poison

Forget about justice. That's God's job. I was obsessed with justice for most of my life and it nearly killed me. Only after I became a recovering idiot did I learn how my pursuit of justice was a disguise for my insistence on being right. Looking back over my serpentine career path, I can appreciate how my insistence on being right (or pursuit of justice if you prefer) caused one train wreck after another. After I went independent, I received a call from a long-time video production/duplication vendor who had a chance at a major corporate video contract. His potential client wanted to begin with audio training programs for the sales force. My friend didn't have a lick of experience with audio programming, so we presented his prospect with a number of the more famous books-on-tape I had produced and the client immediately gave us the contract. The deal called for me to produce the audio programming and, once the new client branched into video, I would write those programs as well. Writing, directing, and producing corporate and education film and video generated the lion's share of my income after I went independent and I had an extensive list of national and international clients. Everything worked well and I wrote the first video production the client ordered in addition to producing the monthly audio newsletters for the sales force. A month or so later, during an audio taping session, the client mentioned he wasn't very happy with the script to his new video. That was news to me. Not that he was disappointed, but that he had ordered a new video. I confronted my old "friend" about it and he explained how he liked to keep everything in house as much as possible.

After reminding him of our (verbal) agreement on handling this account, he told me that his exact words were that he would "try" to have me write the video scripts. I reminded him how my audio productions had been the distinguishing factor that won his firm the contract to begin with and I didn't extend myself in that way in exchange for his best efforts at something. I expected him to live up to his end of the agreement, not "try" to live up to his end of the agreement. He promised he would comply with what we had agreed to, and I left feeling I had received justice and forced him to acknowledge I was right. I learned several weeks later that by 10 a.m. on the morning, following my brilliant confrontation, he had visited the client, reported that I had abandoned the project, and convinced the client he was contracting another audio producer to provide uninterrupted service despite my "unprofessional" behavior. If you've ever been in a dispute where your client is the only possible arbiter, you know what a brilliant move that was on his part. Checkmate. When the dust settled, I had lost three to four years of highly paid work. Because the agreement was verbal, I had little chance of successful litigation. Was I bitter? Yes. Was it unfair? Absolutely. Was I outmaneuvered by a far superior gamesman? Can a bear spot a picnic cooler in Yellowstone Park? I was merely wounded by the other fellow's devious maneuver to save a little money at my expense. But I was the one who boldly marched into his office in the pursuit of justice, slit my own throat from ear to ear, and lost all of the money. I drank the poison and waited for him to die. Instead of dying, he acted swiftly and even more deviously to ensure my death.

Make Your Move - Positively

Being obsessed with justice is being all about you and your unresolved childhood fairness issues. Justice is great, fairness is wonderful, and being right is a treat. But put on your own oxygen mask first and help other people on with their masks afterward. You'll be of no use to yourself or others if you're passed out. Your first calling is to position yourself for maximum effectiveness within the organization you have chosen to work for. Let's assume a people-centered executive has made it to the top of your company or the board managed to hire one in spite of themselves. It can happen. What does the new executive do with the idiots she inherited? It's a problem. I-Bosses seldom do enough of anything to get them in trouble with HR. Neither do they usually accomplish anything beneficial to the organization overall. But doing nothing particularly good or bad is not enough cause for termination in today's litigious labor market. If you use some of the befriending techniques discussed in previous articles and tap into your I-Boss's power cell in an organization led by a person-centered executive, the woman at the top might be extremely grateful. The I-Boss under the leadership of an effective executive is a potentially positive force because the top person wants to create a productive scenario in a culture of encouragement. If you contribute to that, your efforts are likely to be recognized and rewarded. You can be part of the solution the big boss wants and do yourself some political favors at the same time. This can happen several ways. An ambitious person studies what successful people do and tries to get the same results from similar effort. A clever person studies what successful people do and then attempts to get the same results through someone else's effort. Your job is to make your I-Boss look clever. Make peace with contributing good work your I-Boss will take credit for. If you have an intelligent, person-centered big boss, she will be quick to recognize the good work coming out of the idiot's department is not being done by the I-Boss, but by his talented and hard-working team members. If the big boss doesn't recognize this right away, drop some hints.

Do this in the form of a compliment. Say to the big boss, "I sure do appreciate how my boss gives me the encouragement and support to complete these projects on time and under budget." If the big boss has half a brain, she will recognize your I-Boss didn't have anything to do with your successful efforts and was probably a millstone around your neck as you tried to swim the channel. The big boss wants the department to run smoothly, so she will appreciate your contributions in that regard. If the big boss doesn't notice such subtleties, keep at it subtly and consistently. If she still doesn't catch the drift, you might not have the well-meaning ally you thought you did. If that's the case, and you've kept things positive by framing your comments as compliments to your I-Boss, you haven't hurt yourself or left a bad taste in anyone's mouth. By framing all of your propaganda in a positive context, you open up the possibility that a truly intelligent big boss will begin to like having you around. That could mean a promotion. Positive people like to be around other positive people. In the best of all possible worlds, the big boss might recognize that you are being strategically positive and affirming. Seeing your advanced political shrewdness, the big boss might think, That's the kind of person I need on my 'A' Team. Being positive never hurts, unless your boss is a masochist, sadist, or Machiavellian. In those cases, it's best to just disappear, literally or figuratively. Being negative doesn't help with those types either, unless you're attacking the nice people. Being a constant irritant won't put you on anybody's "A" Team. As a rule, you'll get more mileage out of hitching a positive wagon to your I-Boss's organizational power source.

Learn His Language

Regardless of the reasons why Idiot Bosses are in charge, the fact remains that they are. You can think martial arts and use their own weight and momentum as weapons against them. Or you can think more positively and learn how to best position yourself vis-a-vis your I-Boss. Start by studying what your I-Boss thinks is positive. Never assume you know. This goes beyond just studying his hobbies and interests. It drills deeper, into his spoken and unspoken languages. Observe your Idiot Boss's routines and rituals to learn his selfcomforting behaviors (and therefore weaknesses and vulnerabilities). What does he like to talk about? What kind of terms does your I-Boss use when he is being positive? "Awesome," is often heard when I-Bosses are trying to overstate something. "Incredible" is also used, even though it approaches maximum syllabic capacity for most I-Bosses. Any time the word "really" is used to precede anything, it is intended to add extra weight to the adjective, as in "really awesome." "Great," "super," "totally," and "unbelievable" are reliable indicators that the I-Boss likes something. When he says something is "good," he is lying. Nobody says something is "good" unless he thinks it can and should be better. Saying, "We're making good progress," is a polite way of saying, "We need to do better than this or we're screwed."

Learn these terms and begin associating them strategically with things you want your I-Boss to feel more positive about, such as the work you're doing. Pay attention to your Idiot Boss's superiors and study carefully how they: A. insult him when he's not around. or B. humor him when he is around. By subtracting B from A, you will learn how useful he is to them. If they insult him whether he's present or not, don't waste your time coming to his rescue, he's toast. If I-Bosses are treated respectfully by their superiors, whether they are present or absent, you know his superiors are decent folks and will probably give you a fair shake, too. The worst place to openly criticize your I-Boss is in the presence of those who can and choose not to. Next, pay attention to how your peers: A. insult your Idiot Boss when he's not around. or B. insult him when he is around. By subtracting B from A you will learn how cognizant he is of reality. Most I-Bosses don't know when they are the brunt of jokes. In these cases, the budding sadists around the office have a field day with poor, unsuspecting I-Bosses. It's always a good idea to avoid the cynical I-Boss bashing, no matter how tempting it is. Should the I-Boss ever be in a situation to help you, it's advisable to keep an upbeat face on your relationship. More than that, you don't want to be observed bashing your I-Boss by his or her superiors. That will not score points for any possible plans they have to enhance your future prospects.

When the big boss is not friendly

I took the easy scenario first, the one in which the top executive is enlightened, friendly, and supportive of dedicated, hard-working people. As you might have guessed from the bleak picture I painted of hiring practices atop many organizations, you're more likely to encounter a top executive who sees you as little more than a piston rod in the big engine of life - if she sees you at all. In these cases, your I-Boss is not going to receive much personal coaching and nurturing attention either. It's sink or swim for everyone. Because terminating employees is such a tricky business, many executives allow the bottom of the pool to fill with the bodies of those who sank and hire new bodies to replace them. You can exercise your prerogative to become disgusted, get angry, feel disenfranchised, and resent the heck out of the new administration. Or you can put your newly acquired skills to good use and exploit the situation to your advantage. As I mentioned before, everyone has an agenda, even new top executives with ice water in their veins. Put your research and inquiry spectacles on and find what the big boss most desires and determine if your Idiot Boss can fit into that scheme. It's dangerous for you to make an end run, even on an I-Boss. He may not get upset, but those above him will see someone out of their box. The keepers of hierarchical power charts like everybody to stay behind their bosses in neat, straight lines. Exiting your silo is likely to get you in trouble as well as your I-Boss who will also be asked to explain why you were in the hall without a pass.

Try to engineer schemes and plans that will resonate with the bigger boss's ambitions and feed them to your I-Boss for presentation. He might not understand what it is you want him to do, so the operation must be approached delicately. If you can put together good stuff and make sure it makes its way into your I-Boss's office, you can then "leak" word to those higher up that your I-Boss has some exciting new stuff coming along. You can mention "in passing" to the big boss's clerical assistant, "Ever since your boss came, my boss has been acting like a new man. He even has three plans for trimming costs and increasing production based on your boss's last speech to the stockholders," or words to that affect. Add, "These must be exciting times around the executive suite." The clerical assistant will feel important and you might have set the wheels in motion for your I-Boss to receive an invitation to Mahogany Row. He won't want to go alone because he knows he can't explain your plans. This is a great opportunity to assure him of his capabilities, pump up his ego, and offer to go with him to back him up. Comfort, support, and encouragement will get you much farther with your I-Boss than resentment and cynicism. Properly planned and executed, strategies like these will make you seem indispensable to your I-Boss. You can't control when the opportunity will arise from which you will benefit, but you can be positioned to take advantage of it when it does. Building a partnership with your I-Boss requires you to take the initiative and do all the work. The research, strategizing, planning, and patient execution of each step are all on your shoulders. But this is the closest thing to control you'll ever have. If you care enough to invest in your career in spite of the idiots in your path, you must take this approach. Facing criticism The cynical and negative people in your area will resent you for no longer joining them in bashing the I-Boss. They might downright distrust you for actually initiating contact with him. That's okay. This is your opportunity to point out how the work you're doing is moving the organization, or at least your small part of it, in a worthwhile direction. The alternative is to continue going around in circles, which is characteristic of an I-Boss-led department, or worse, rewriting the mid-range plan again. What you're doing is taking the lead in setting the department's agenda based in part on what you've discovered the big boss's agenda to be. More importantly, you're shaping the agenda based on what you believe is important. You do this tastefully, of course, all the while making your I-Boss think it's his idea. This is all made possible by your newly developed management skill set. Handled properly, you could even become a champion for your coworkers. Unless they are terribly misguided, which is always a possibility, they would prefer to set their working agenda rather than haplessly jumping and fetching with every changing whim from the I-Boss. If you can forge a strategic partnership with your I-Boss in which you can actually influence departmental priorities, you will be your coworkers' new best friend.