To insure that the information I share in this blog, my book and with my students is current, I regularly review the web and current literature for new information about job, career, psychological, organizational, social and societal trends. One startling trend that I have noticed is that a lot more people are angry these days!
Over the weekend I was reviewing what others are saying about brown-nosing and it is not very nice. Many bloggers were using profanity and expletives to describe their brown-nosing cohorts and it is clear that people seem to think that there is an inherent unfairness to recognizing the contribution of brown-nosers at work. This seems to bring to life the results of a study that was mentioned in one of my Organizational Behavior text books – that 24% of people in the workforce are chronically angry.
24%! That's one out of every 4 of you is always pissed off about something. For the love of God, people, snap out of it!
Let me try to reason with you. As a rational human being, do you honestly think that management will take you seriously or consider you for positions with additional responsibilty (which bring with them added stress) if you can't manage the stress at your current level – which may be manifesting itself as anger?
Do you think that your peers, colleagues and others who are influencers in the organization will want to work with you? Do you think that people who know you will testify to your strength, stability of character and work? No one wants to be around angry people unless they are angry themselves.
The term "go postal" was coined for a reason and most managers are constantly on the lookout for people who might have this kind of negative potential. I'm not saying those angry 24% are all capable of violence, but how is a manager to know where your particular tipping point might be?
Anger is an emotion, so let's do a little analysis and see if we can make you THINK instead of respond emotionally…..
You're angry about being passed over, ignored or otherwise treated unfairly as a result of something a 'brown-noser' did. The bottom line is that the brown-noser got something you wanted. I want you to think about what the brown-noser did.
Did he make someone feel good about about him/herself? Where in the rules does it say that you can't be nice to people in positions of authority?
Did he name drop to get a favor? Interesting. If you wanted to get into an exclusive restaurant or club, or needed to see a particular doctor, or wanted a job with a particular company, wouldn't you look for someone who could help you get 'in' and drop his or her name'?
Did he recognize that no matter how bad an idea was it was going to happen anyway so he decided to lend his support instead of fight it? Looks like sucking up to some but to others it looks like smart gamesmanship and supportive behavior.
Did he volunteer to do grunt work that was beneath him (or you)? Looks like ingratiating behavior to some, but to others it looks like he helped out when and where it was needed.
Are you seeing the pattern here? The brown-noser kept visible in any way he could. He made friends and connected with others by supporting people when they needed support. He used the power of his network to drop a name and gain a favor. And he positioned himself as a player who was willing to roll up his sleeves and do the grunt work where others would not.
If you wonder why brown-nosers get attention, think about it…..
Life is short – accelerate your potential. Use these skills!
L
