Read Online Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead... But Gutsy Girls Do by Kate White - Free Book Online
Authors: Kate White
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This, after all, was the eighties. All around her at Princeton, Kopp watched as her classmates were being lured by investment banking firms: These firms offered prestige and security, they recruited aggressively, and they paid major bucks.
What Kopp finally decided to do was steal their techniques. She couldn't deliver money, but she could offer the other three benefits. “To guarantee prestige, we only accept the top candidates,” says Kopp. “The program is a two-year one so there's a sense of security, of being rooted for a while. And we recruit really aggressively on campuses.”
HOW TO BREAK THE RULES AND NOT GET BURNED
But if you start playing loose with the rules, isn't there a chance you'll get into trouble? Nancy Austin, the dynamic management consultant and author whom I hired as a columnist for Working Woman, told me recently that whenever she holds seminars with people about work, Anita Roddick's name frequently comes up. People are dazzled by her, the quintessential rule breaker who created the environmentally correct and very successful cosmetics company The Body Shop, and they talk about how much they'd love to be her. And yet when Austin suddenly asks, “Would you hire her?” there's always a deafening silence as people realize that no, of course not. They wouldn't want a wild card like that working for them.
Fortunately the atmosphere in many companies today is changing to accommodate those who have the guts to venture into exciting new territory. Also, rule breaking, done right, doesn't have to threaten your superiors. If you do something smart and effective that's not part of the official “plan,” your boss is not likely to punish you if u makes her look good.
Men have an intuitive sense of this because their rule breaking so often got a wink as they were growing up. A CEO, who asked to remain anonymous, recently described the difference between how men and women often handle the assignments he gives them. “The women will do exactly as I ask, working hard but never going outside of the outlines I give. The results are thorough and professional—but unexciting. The guys, on the other hand, veer off from the outline and come up with something really innovative that grabs me by the seat of my pants.”
That said, you can run into trouble as a rule breaker. There are several ways you must protect yourself:
1. Establish a track record of competence. You'll be much more likely to get maverick ideas accepted if you've already proven you can handle the basics of your job.
2. Get the support of your boss—and anyone else necessary. There are two basic reasons why you need your boss's blessing if you are going to do any rule breaking. Even if you have a good relationship, surprising him with anything out of the ordinary could make him think you're headstrong or too big for your britches. If you don't get along, rule breaking will come across to him as close to mutinous.But that's not the only reason you must have his support. It paves the way for cooperation on the part of others you'll have to deal with. My friend Stephanie Cook, senior VP at Bloom FCA advertising agency, calls this “borrowing the power.”Before Cheryl Deaton used any of her throw-out-the-books strategies as principle, she got the support of her bosses—the kids’ parents. She also brought local businesses into the loop, generating their support and cooperation because they could help fund many of the projects.
3. Know the landscape. Senator Mikulski gave me the following advice: “You can't push the envelope until you know how the post office works.” Even if you've been empowered by your boss, the climate has to be right for gustiness. Step back, observe, note what happens to those who make bold moves. Are they rewarded? Are they considered dangerous or bitchy or too out on a limb?
4. If someone tells you, “That's not the way we do things around here,” repackage your idea to seem less threatening. Or offer to try
What Kopp finally decided to do was steal their techniques. She couldn't deliver money, but she could offer the other three benefits. “To guarantee prestige, we only accept the top candidates,” says Kopp. “The program is a two-year one so there's a sense of security, of being rooted for a while. And we recruit really aggressively on campuses.”
HOW TO BREAK THE RULES AND NOT GET BURNED
But if you start playing loose with the rules, isn't there a chance you'll get into trouble? Nancy Austin, the dynamic management consultant and author whom I hired as a columnist for Working Woman, told me recently that whenever she holds seminars with people about work, Anita Roddick's name frequently comes up. People are dazzled by her, the quintessential rule breaker who created the environmentally correct and very successful cosmetics company The Body Shop, and they talk about how much they'd love to be her. And yet when Austin suddenly asks, “Would you hire her?” there's always a deafening silence as people realize that no, of course not. They wouldn't want a wild card like that working for them.
Fortunately the atmosphere in many companies today is changing to accommodate those who have the guts to venture into exciting new territory. Also, rule breaking, done right, doesn't have to threaten your superiors. If you do something smart and effective that's not part of the official “plan,” your boss is not likely to punish you if u makes her look good.
Men have an intuitive sense of this because their rule breaking so often got a wink as they were growing up. A CEO, who asked to remain anonymous, recently described the difference between how men and women often handle the assignments he gives them. “The women will do exactly as I ask, working hard but never going outside of the outlines I give. The results are thorough and professional—but unexciting. The guys, on the other hand, veer off from the outline and come up with something really innovative that grabs me by the seat of my pants.”
That said, you can run into trouble as a rule breaker. There are several ways you must protect yourself:
1. Establish a track record of competence. You'll be much more likely to get maverick ideas accepted if you've already proven you can handle the basics of your job.
2. Get the support of your boss—and anyone else necessary. There are two basic reasons why you need your boss's blessing if you are going to do any rule breaking. Even if you have a good relationship, surprising him with anything out of the ordinary could make him think you're headstrong or too big for your britches. If you don't get along, rule breaking will come across to him as close to mutinous.But that's not the only reason you must have his support. It paves the way for cooperation on the part of others you'll have to deal with. My friend Stephanie Cook, senior VP at Bloom FCA advertising agency, calls this “borrowing the power.”Before Cheryl Deaton used any of her throw-out-the-books strategies as principle, she got the support of her bosses—the kids’ parents. She also brought local businesses into the loop, generating their support and cooperation because they could help fund many of the projects.
3. Know the landscape. Senator Mikulski gave me the following advice: “You can't push the envelope until you know how the post office works.” Even if you've been empowered by your boss, the climate has to be right for gustiness. Step back, observe, note what happens to those who make bold moves. Are they rewarded? Are they considered dangerous or bitchy or too out on a limb?
4. If someone tells you, “That's not the way we do things around here,” repackage your idea to seem less threatening. Or offer to try
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