Volume 5, Issue 23; June 8, 2005:
Currying Favor
The behavior of the office kiss-up drives many people bats. It's more than annoying, though — it does real harm to the organization. What is the behavior?
Whether we call it bootlicking, apple-polishing, kissing up, managing up, or dozens of other less delicate terms, currying favor can be painful for everyone. Currying favor is that behavior of a subordinate intended to make the boss feel good, especially about the subordinate.
When someone curries favor, peers can feel stress. To counteract the tactic, peers tend to defend themselves, or to attack the currier. When they do, they can appear to be petty or vengeful. Whether or not they respond, peers can lose status and suffer career damage.
Photo from the Special Collections of U.S. National Agricultural Library courtesy Wikipedia.
Here are some common favor-currying tactics.
Compliments about personal attire are especially popular because they're ambiguous — they provide tests of the effectiveness of the strategy. If the tactics work, the currier moves on to compliment more personal attributes.
Forms of mimicry include adopting the mannerisms, speech, or dress of the boss. But mimicry can go much deeper, including acquiring identical interests in specific foods, particular professional sports or teams, political alignment, religious affiliation, or charities.
Subtle psychological manipulation
Compliments about
personal attire are
especially popular
because they're
To make the boss feel smart or useful or important, the currier can seek advice, guidance, or support from the boss when it really isn't necessary. Although these tactics can be difficult to identify, they're transparent to some, especially to those who've used them personally, or who have experienced their use by others.
Excessive, ostentatious dedication
Many of us work long hours. But those who consistently do so in a manner that makes the effort visible to the boss could be currying favor. Similarly, most of us agree occasionally to "step up" to impossible tasks. But those who jump to do so in a highly visible way could be currying favor.
Opportunities to express adoration abound. One favorite is making obvious efforts to sit beside the boss at meetings, presentations, or lunches, and competing with others for the "honor."
Fulfilling the boss's dreams
When groups debate strategy, curriers often propose "solutions" that please the boss, whether or not the solutions are feasible.
Currying favor corrupts. It harms the organization, first by creating tension among its people. But when it works, it can be as toxic as bribery or extortion, because it distorts decisions. And that means that the organization might act (or not) for reasons other than organizational interests.
Organizations must make decisions on their merits, whether the issue is the substance of the work, the configuration of the organization, or the advancement of personnel. Influencing those decisions by currying favor weakens the organization, which threatens us all.
What can you do if one of your peers uses these tactics? Next time. Top Next Issue
Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics , filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info
For an outstanding example of a currier in action, watch the character "Sgt. Red O'Neill," played by John C. McGinley in the 1986 film Platoon . (Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe; Director: Oliver Stone). Order from Amazon.com.
Because currying favor can be risky, practitioners often use indirect tactics. See "The True Costs of Indirectness," Point Lookout for November 29, 2006, for more on indirectness.
More articles on Workplace Politics:
Patterns of Everyday Conversation
Many conversations follow identifiable patterns. Recognizing those patterns, and preparing yourself to deal with them, can keep you out of trouble and make you more effective and influential.
Nasty Questions: II
In meetings, telemeetings, and email we sometimes ask questions that aren't intended to elicit information. Rather, they're indirect attacks intended to advance the questioner's political agenda. Here's part two of a catalog of some favorite tactics.
The Utility Pole Anti-Pattern: I
Organizational processes can get so complicated that nobody actually knows how they work. If getting something done takes too long, the organization can't lead its markets, or even catch up to the leaders. Why does this happen?
Unethical Coordination
When an internal department or an external vendor is charged with managing information about a large project, a conflict of interest can develop. That conflict presents opportunities for unethical behavior. What's the nature of that conflict, and what ethical breaches can occur?
High Falutin' Goofy Talk: III
Workplace speech and writing sometimes strays into the land of pretentious but overused business phrases, which I like to call "high falutin' goofy talk." We use these phrases with perhaps less thought than they deserve, because they can be trite or can evoke indecorous images. Here's Part III of a collection of phrases and images to avoid.
See also Workplace Politics, Managing Your Boss and Ethics at Work for more related articles.
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Resources for Office Politics
Beware any resource that speaks of "winning" at workplace politics or "defeating" it. You can benefit or not, but there is no score-keeping, and it isn't a game.
Wikipedia has a nice article with a list of additional resources
Some public libraries offer collections. Here's an example from Saskatoon.
Check my own links collection
LinkedIn's Office Politics discussion group
Workplace Politics Trouble?
Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics !
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