Climbing the Corporate Ladder

Behind every strong manager or leader, there is probably an equally strong (if not stronger) team or cast of individuals. Behind a weak leader, there needs to be even stronger “subordinates” if he/she wants to hold on to their jobs.

Right now I am sitting in a conference room listening to Tim (my Manager) rehearse and practice what is he going to say when he delivers a client presentation this afternoon. I have put together the entire deck Tim will be using and it’s quite apparent that this is the first time he has looked at the deck. (Never mind that he was supposed to review and provide feedback/additional information on it.)

While he is trying to rehearse his speaking points, he finds that he does not understand many of “our” findings…he is thus asking me to provide color commentary to supplement his talking points. He has taken “my” deck and completely messed up the formatting/grammar/consistency etc. and now I need to fix it before anyone else sees it. Is this my role as the Associate on this project? Is this a good use of time for us as a project team? Does the client know they are paying for me to supplement the gaps in Tim’s skills as a first-time consulting manager?

The upside for me is that I get to be a “puppeteer” as my boyfriend calls it - probably one of he only times I will be placed in such a transparent role to coach and develop my manager. But is this experience of “managing up” worth the extra work, stress and role-reversal? What else is in it for me?

In corporate America, it’s not entirely uncommon for seemingly strong managers to receive heavy support on the back-end. What is the incentive to provide such “above and beyond” level of support? Usually “subordinates” are willing to fill in gaps and ensure their managers’ success because there’s benefits in it for them…

But then what if I am supporting a manager who is not in the position to help me? What if I am supporting someone who is barely holding on to his job and does not have the credibility to bring any benefits to me?

This is why I’m in a moral dilemma. My friends say “let him drown” but my ethical side says if I am in the position to extend a life raft, why hold back? Why let the client suffer?

But then I wonder, am I really helping myself by helping him? Or am I supporting a broken Corporate America system in which unqualified individuals keep moving up the ladder?

The New York Times Op-Ed Columist David Brooks recently wrote a piece titled, “Nice Guys Finish First” in which he examines the incentives and self-interested benefts we achieve by being “nice.” His piece suggests that evolution is not just about survival of the fittest, but that displays of kindness and cooperation are essential to getting ahead.

In my experiences working with client organizations, I regularly see these principles in action. The most successful consultants (and professionals in general) are not necessarily the ones who have the most relevant experience or professional skills but rather the ones who are able to build strong relationships. My current Manager is like a fish out of water on our project but because he is the epitomy of a “nice guy” people want to help him out. I guess it’s human nature to be nicer to those who are nice to us. I wonder if I should spend less time perfecting my own work and more time lending a hand to others.

moneymondays:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

tarynituponline:

I felt this was good advice.

Companies utilize these seemingly ridiculous questions to better understand how candidates approach and think through issues. As a Deloitte Consultant, you’ll probably never need to figure out the # of bricks on all residential buildings in Shanghai, but you might be faced with equally daunting and ambiguous questions from clients who will expect you to create and define a process to answer. Other questions, such as “How weird are you” is a favorite of companies such as Zappos to make sure potential hires have a sense of humour and do not take themselves too seriously. Ultimately, it’s important to bare in mind that with these “ridiculous” questions, it’s often not the answer that is most important but the process utilized to arrive at your answer. Knowing this, I’m still glad I haven’t come across many of these questions during my job interviews! :)

“Given the numbers 1 to 1,000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number, if you are given the hint ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ for each guess you make?” — Facebook

“Using a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself on how weird you are.” — Capital One (COF)

“Explain quantum electrodynamics in two minutes, starting now.” — Intel (INTC) 

“How many balloons would fit in this room?” — PricewaterhouseCoopers

“If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?” — Goldman Sachs (GS)

“You have a bouquet of flowers. All but two are roses, all but two are daisies, and all but two are tulips. How many flowers do you have?” — Epic Systems

“What is the philosophy of martial arts?” — Aflac (AFL)

“Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years.” — Boston Consulting

“If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?” — AT&T (T)

“How do you weigh an elephant without using a scale?” — IBM (IBM)

“If you had 5,623 participants in a tournament, how many games would need to be played to determine the winner?” — Amazon (AMZN)

“How many bricks are there in Shanghai? Consider only residential buildings.” —Deloitte Consulting

“You have five bottles of pills. One bottle has 9 gram pills, the others have 10 gram pills. You have a scale that can be used only once. How can you find out which bottle contains the 9 gram pills?” —eBay (EBAY)

“What is your fastball?” — Ernst & Young

“How would you market ping pong balls if ping pong itself became obsolete? List many ways, then pick one and go into detail.” — Microsoft (MSFT)

“How many smartphones are there in New York City?” — Google (GOOG)

“You are in charge of 20 people. Organize them to figure out how many bicycles were sold in your area last year.” — Schlumberger (SLB)

“Why do you think only a small percentage of the population makes over $125,000 a year?” — New York Life

“You have three boxes. One contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled so that no label accurately identifies the contents of any of the boxes. Opening just one box, and without looking inside, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?” — Apple (AAPL)

“How many ball bearings, each one inch in diameter, can fit inside a 747 aircraft?” — SAIC (SAI)

(Source: CNN)