Using informal and formal status symbols in your organization to advance your career
You want to get ahead in life and in your career.
Formal status symbols in a business setting tend to come with promotion. In other words, you have to earn them. They are rank insignia in the corporate army.
Some of the most common are:
– A reserved parking space next to the building.
– An office with a window (corner offices and those on the best upper floors)
– Executive dining privileges
– Wet bar in office
– Jacuzzi adjoining office
– Company supplied Blackberry email device
– A private secretary
– First class travel privileges
-design lamps and furniture, as well as LCD computer monitors
Although you, as a management showdown hopeful, may not qualify for some of the status symbols above, you may be able to find reasonable facsimiles. You might not qualify for a reserved parking spot right next to the building, for example, but you might be able to get one in the reserved lot, which is better than walking three blocks from the general parking area like the rest of the peons.
Make it your business to say nice things to the secretary who handles such matters. It’s also worth making friends with people like the head of facilities and maintenance, who would be in a position to install office carpet or wallpaper better than you deserve. Check out Dale Carnegie’s timeless book How to Win Friends and Influence People for the finer points of dealing with those people.
You may decide it’s politically expedient to spend your own money on things the company won’t provide, like that newest Blackberry or GSM cell phone and high-end office furniture.
Outsiders, new hires, and casual visitors who don’t know the difference will think your expensive knick-knacks come with the territory. If someone is rude enough to ask, “How did you rate this?” he just smiles and shrugs. That adds to the mystique of him.
Informal status symbols are another matter. These are often adopted by the informal organization, and their importance varies from one company or department to another. For example, it has been reported that some managers like to display computer software running on large LCD monitors as status symbols.
The “authority” with such a “screen” may not be the first thing about these products and may also be technically inept in any computer skills.
Also think of a bank of skinny LCD computer monitors as little more than a string of dim light bulbs. The most impressive upcoming computer accessories to be shown include Microsoft Office System 2007 beta 2 Software, blocked computer web pages on Sourceforge.net, especially those web pages related to security, corporate firewall and encryption projects. Also, it always helps to show the latest Beta version from Microsoft. Software like the upcoming vaporware Vista operating system.
All these future advanced computer programs are for the most part mythical.
Will anyone you meet be able to tell you the difference between their “Longhorn” prop computer screen and your “Vista”?
These advanced showroom computer software projects are always changing due to the nature of deadlines and childish and infighting nature as well as poor writing skills of computer programmers.
In reality, no one can refute his experience or take his bluff seriously.
Anyone who does is a liar or a fool and certainly not your competitor seeking management or promotion in another field.
And anyway, it’s not like the others you’re trying to upgrade haven’t had enough trouble with their current version of Windows or the computer systems they’re struggling with.
If you find it difficult to improve others, you can also leave the computer screens locked on those screens of informative programs and websites. Instructional CDs or reviews of these and other operating systems or programs may also be left for viewing and demonstration purposes.
And it never hurts to try to show that you are always in the process of updating your skills and knowledge. This will be seen as a demonstration of your time management and management assessment and decision making skills.
It’s always good to pretend you’re proficient with a Linux distribution or Sun Microsystems server systems.
It is also worth noting that there are readily available computer programs to help you pretend that you are busy 28 hours a day.
With the touch of a key, a model of a work project can be displayed on your expensive and clutter-free LCD monitor while, on the news, you were actually searching the web for travel sites about your next vacation abroad, or just playing lonely. A handy feature to have for when your boss walks in the door.
Most informal status symbols revolve around office or personal accessories. These include BlackBerry and
High-end business laptop systems
Furthermore, these accessories must bear silent testimony to their value, both to their stature and to the essential value of the data they contain.
Expensive locking, encryption and satellite tracking security systems to protect your laptop from theft scream the importance of your laptop and its data on which the entire future of your business revolves.
As an up-and-comer, you should consider getting a portable communication device such as laptops, even if your company doesn’t provide them.
Also consider the importance of Blackberry portable email systems and high-end GSM phones because they can ultimately prove to be a wise and important investment in your career.
A Blackberry drive linked to the corporate communications and computing system, for example, means you’re a dedicated manager who may need to call in the electronic genius at any hour of the night to pull data from your office files to solve a problem. life management. crisis.
Of course, it is prudent to point out that, with simple planning, such a crisis may never have occurred.
Today, you can even link your new GSM phone to your laptop for instant access from anywhere in the world to the central office.
Remember to demonstrate your wireless capability often, even if it’s just a simple access point, or even your expensive Internet connection/GSM phone.
Like an empty briefcase carried out at the end of the work day or week, it also doesn’t hurt to be seen carrying your laptop or Blackberry to and from work. You certainly seem more progressive and farsighted than your colleagues.
Remember that these and other quietly promoted corporate status symbols can advance your career in several important ways.