It has been called ‘managing up,’ self promotion, and some less flattering monikers.
It’s the ability to influence your own boss to invest in your ideas and advancement.
It’s a soft skill that can be mistaken, at best, for manipulation, but, at worst, for thriving on the fruits of others’ labor and covering one’s fanny.
Real managing up is supposed to be done not for personal reasons but for the benefit of the organization. But most often, it’s done for personal gain. It’s hard to do with dignity and without straining friendships.
You may believe that when you are doing a good job and accomplishing something, that your bosses will know. But Robert Cialdini of Arizona State University says your boss probably doesn’t realize how good you are.
Cialdini and Stanford Graduate School of Business’s Jerry Pfeffer co-authored a recent study that shows self-promotion may not work as well as it seems. Reported in the Wall Street Journal, the researchers found that self-aggrandizers don’t fool others as well as they fool themselves.
Their recommendation: You have to all but deputize someone as your campaign manager. The most savvy strategy, they found, is to have information about your accomplishments come to your boss from someone else.
When discussing ideas with your boss, point out that what you are recommending is logically consistent with a stand the boss and higher-ups are already taking.

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The temperature of the workplace was people’s top complaint for many years. In the same location, some said it was too hot and other workers said it was too cold. Fortunately, some thought the temperature was just right.
Very few people think the ringing of someone’s cellphone is just right. In a study by workforce solutions firm Randstad USA, unusual rings were named as workers’ number one pet peeve.
Randstad reports that many rings are particularly obnoxious like fire engine sirens, a fog horn, or a child’s voice crying out. Many people have several rings to identify various callers such as parents, friends, and spouses.
With so many ringtones available online, it shouldn’t be difficult to pick one that doesn’t drive co-workers and customers to distraction. According to M:Metrics, a Seattle-based research firm, 19.8 million mobile-phone users downloaded ringtones in one recent month. About half of them were employed full time.
Part of the problem is with more open workspaces. Some companies pipe “white sound” into open areas to reduce noise. Another factor is the increased number of young people who have grown up with cellphones.
Most organizations require that phones be set on vibrate during meetings and when talking with customers.
We should remember that discretion is best when choosing a ringtone. Consider what bosses and co-workers will think when your phone rings.

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For greater success, get passionate about your work, your world
Let’s say you’re a calm, laid-back person. You deal with the world from a take-it-as-it-comes point of view. And it has always worked for you.

But didn’t you ever envy people who seemed to be on fire, enthusiastic and passionate about their work, their pro football team, and their home life?
There’s no question that you can’t change the color of your eyes and other in-born traits. The height of your fire is something else.

In The Welch Way, Jack and Suzy Welch say there’s no question about it. You can stoke up your fire, uncork your passion and get hot! When you do, you can turn clock-watching workers into fired-up people as well.
It’s every leader’s job to make purpose come alive and to turn cynicism into engagement, say the Welches.
Sometimes it takes an event to do it. They tell of a break-even unit of a big manufacturer. The unit had little growth and its people had little motivation. They just plugged along with the work.
When the unit was sold, everything changed. A few slackers were let go, but through great attention to individuals and promises of better things to come, work became fun for those who stayed.
Fortunately, you probably won’t have the buyout situation to contend with but the new owner’s techniques could work for you too. By focusing on individuals, what they are doing and what they could become, you could replace cynicism with excitement.
When you get passionate about what your people are doing, true engagement will be your reward. And theirs.

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Fortune’s Stanley Bing is a funny guy. He begins his tirade on grammar with a 60-word sentence. Then he loads paragraphs of his “While You Were Out” page with grammatical no-nos, many of which are found in email he receives.
Here are some of the misuses of the language that grate on his nerves.
You and I or you and me? Use ‘You and I’ when you are the subject: You and I should have lunch. (You wouldn’t say, ‘Me should have lunch!’) Use ‘You and me’ when you are the direct object: The boss called you and me. (You wouldn’t say, ‘The boss called I.’)
Interchanging “their,” “there” and “they’re.” Correct: They’re (they are) having their lunch over there.
The difference between its and it’s. Its (without an apostrophe) is the possessive of it: Nice car. I like its color. It’s means ‘it is.’  It’s my favorite.
Using “myself” instead of “me.”  This rankles Bing and annoys a lot of his readers as well. If he could send a message to everyone, people would not write such things as, “For any problem, contact Ruth or myself.” Just say ‘me.’ If you want to know when to use ‘myself’ look up ‘reflexive pronouns.’ You will be proud of yourself!
Bing (and there are many others like him) notices that young men are often guilty of referring to other men as “dude,” and saying “No problem” in response to “Thank You.” Some will mutter “Yo” in the elevator to others.
Bing counsels against correcting the offender. They won’t like it and may not even believe their grammar is poor. All you can do speak correctly yourself.

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Whatever your job may be, there will be times when confidential information comes to you. When you hear people discuss the subject - and when they are incorrect - what do you do?
Forget correcting them or giving any indication that you know something about the situation.
The rumor mill is constantly grinding out speculation. But rumors are a fact of business life. They are something of a communications system and are often right, or almost right.
If you are a supervisor, you should pay close attention to rumors. They give you an indication of how people may feel about a certain subject.
If you aren’t the boss, you could let management know about the hearsay and anxiety you’re picking up, advises psychoanalyst Kerry Sulkowicz of the Boswell Group, which advises on the psychological aspects of business.
When someone asks you if a rumor is true, simply tell them you don’t know if it is true and leave it at that.
Never drop hints that you know more than you can tell. Fact is, you might well not know the whole story.

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