Book extract – Management by Idiots

When the American humorist Will Rogers (Go for the Gold: Thoughts on Achieving your Personal Best) says, ‘Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far’, he is far off the mark in the corporate context. Here, you have to honk your own horn and blow your own trumpet.

From the time you enter the competitive world, beginning with your entry into school, you vie for attention, approval and acceptance from your teachers.

In this eagerness of striving for acceptance and appreciation you not only continuously improve on what you do but you also try to impress your teachers by your good behavior, your responses, your presentation and above all, by informing your teachers, from time to time, of what you have been working on, based on their directions and guidance.

When you enter the corporate world, you start working at a junior level as one among many people performing somewhat similar work and reporting to the same boss. The effort should be to do well and also get noticed, and be seen as a person who is a step above-a cut above the rest.

This can be done only if what you do, how you do it, and what you achieve must be projected at the right time to the right person.

Imagine a situation when you have completed a group task in which your contribution has been the key to achieving the breakthrough. Also, suppose you have not taken any further initiative to inform your supervisor as to how it was done. But instead of you, your colleague has given this information and cornered all the credit and appreciation. I am sure, if you look at your entire career span, you would find many such instances.

I do not intend to recommend the kind of credit hogging which proves detrimental to team spirit or performance orientation. Never.

Wall Flower

The most effective and ultimately beneficial approach is to do productive hard work and make concrete contribution. But having done that hard work and having made that contribution, you should not remain a wall flower or a doormat. And, importantly, do not let anyone else mask your contribution. Therefore, it is good to do well and also speak up for yourself at times.

I also do not recommend the approach of being pompous or arrogant. You have to be a good performer. Humble. A team player. At the same time, you need to be capable of confidence and grace. If you do not do this, you’re not-so-generous colleagues may manage to keep you perpetually hidden in the background and utilize your hard work for their self promotion in the eyes of the superiors. Never let that happen.

And it is for this reasons that I recommend that occasionally you must blow your own trumpet. I am happy to know that management experts also subscribe to the common sense wisdom contained in the motto, ‘If you don’t blow your own trumpet, someone else will use it as a spittoon.’