Breast cancer awareness month is good news and bad news for me.  Good news because it means that we continue the work to understand this disease but bad news because it reminds me that I am a member of a sorority that I did not pledge.  I am reminded of my ordeal just three years ago.

I couldn't believe that less than one month after being diagnosed with breast cancer I was having trouble remaining focused. Oh my God, I thought…I'm human! What a difficult way to learn this lesson.   Of course, a diagnosis like this made me spend some time thinking about what it means to be human and in line with my objective here – to bring my message of competent brown-nosing to the world of repressed talent - it also caused me to reevaluate how I might use this adversity to that end.

I've been spreading my home grown brand of brown-nosing through this blog for a while now and even this cancer experience has shown me how these four skills – gaining visibility, connecting, networking and positioning – are used by all of us all the time. For those of you who can't imagine using 'brown-nosing' skill to further your own agenda, let me share a real world example from this experience.

The phone rings at 4:40pm and my surgeon says, 'There is a problem'.  Careful not to use the "C" word in other than the most clinical terms, this skillful, kind and competent man has taken care to position this information in the most gentle way possible.  He continually emphasized any good news (not than anything he can say after problem and carcinoma would be good) and held my focus on the obvious objective at this point – healing and getting healthy again. 

Doesn't this look like an approach that could be successful for you at work?  Skillfully and tactfully using the art of positioning to help people see the good in any situation and to keep them focused on the goal?  To provide support for just such an effort?  Should it matter if you think the target of your efforts is a jerk?  An incompetent?  Do you think this successful, skillful surgeon would have approached this any differently if I had been an incompetent jerk?  I suspect not.  His job was to deliver the news and provide support and options which he did brilliantly.  Keep in mind that his technical expertise is in surgery, but there is no doubt that these ancillary people skills are just as important to his success and why he was so highly recommended by previous patients and colleagues.

To win in the world of work, YOU must develop these ancillary people sills, too.  The next time you see a brownnoser trying to make lemonaide out of lemons, try appreciating the skill involved when helping another feel good about him or herself in a bad situation. Then try your hand at it yourself. 

You will be demonstrating the skillful art of making people feel good and helping them be as good (or as healthy) as they can be under less than ideal circumstances.  Isn't this something that managers of people are supposed to do?  If you show your boss and your colleagues that you have this talent their perception of you as someone who can make it at the next level will undoubtedly be enhanced.  As a result, you might come highly recommended by the people who can influence your career, too.

Think about it —

Later, Linda

P.S. Brown-nosing 101: A career survival manual for the rest of us is now available.  Please visit www.brownnosingonline.com and click on the Buy the Book tab.  The best of health to you….