Get Over School, Old Neighborhood - In "The Shield' and Working Corporate The Snitch Thrives (and much more about power and work)
To survive a corporate job in this crazy economy you have to have down cold power. To do that you probably have to unlearn all those oughts from a more simple time or a sheltered background. For example, in school (gum in your hair) and the old neighborhood (you and your bike knocked into the street) you were socialized never to rat. Smirk.
Where did I learn about power? I had been a research assistant for a senator, worked full-time and as a consultant for the Fortune 50, studied organizational theory and behavior at Case Western University and coached since 2008. Overall, the best insights about power come from coaching clients.
The snitch doesn't wind up in the ditch
What my clients observe both in pop culture and in gunnersville corporate is that knowing how to leverage being a narrowly defined rat can heal rifts, open doors to new networks, protect during layoffs and establish the reputation that you should be promoted.
On the TV series “The Shield” a cop loses her job, the police captain gets it back for her, she turns personal rat for him, he gets ahead, and she evolves into being perceived as promotable.
Although the grapevine may smell a rat, in Knowledge Industries there is not much they can do about that. Of course, there are counter measures like feeding misinformation but that's risky. If the snitch brings that back to those with power you can be finished. Obviously, rats don't survive long in blue collar industries.
Get good at this? Maybe you could become a CI (Confidential Informant) for the FBI or even the local police department.
No one in C-Suite is all-powerful
It is a big mistake to assume that in corporations the C-Suite has the power. If that were the case the woes of Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and Disney’s Bob Iger wouldn’t be receiving such push-back. Investors are in charge and that’s because their investors are pressing down hard on the high-profile points media turns into headlines.
In 2022 investor activism was at a record. Recently law firm Paul Weiss won a victory for McDonald’s in a proxy fight with Carl Icahn. When Paul Weiss launched the first ever law firm ESG practice managing these kinds of power blow-outs was anticipated. The chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp is himself a power player in national progressive politics. Read all about it in Bloomberg Law.
You are a high-producer and/or rainmaker - So?
The high producers and rainmakers? In these turbulent times that form of productivity power could be on short time. A shift in markets, contacts, technology and internal power can change everything. You are lamenting on professional anonymous networks about being pushed out.
Knowing where the bodies are buried.
Where the bodies are buried? It's a standard power setup to gain access to the dirt. That force field will hold on as long as those with baggage remain in the organization. If that's a long time so is job tenure of those who acquired such data.
Stop wondering why so and so "has been able to stay there for decades." Seasonsed students of power understand that one well.
Dad, Uncle Sam, Aunt Madison and more
Nepotism? They hold a lot of strong cards and play them. If the power structure collapses they will be tortured. That is a classic case of guilt by association.
The mythology attached to hard work shouldn't remain sticky
Hard work? Don’t be naïve. That only is relevant if there is air cover. Without protection, the hard workers can be the first to be cut loose in a layoff.
There will be other studies of power on this blog. The objective is to help you navigate work and even love when the world seems to be orbiting out of control around very peculiar entities.
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