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DISCOVER THE SAVVY FORMULA FOR SUCCESS It's not easy to get to the top-success requires a unique combination of talent, dedication, contacts, charisma and SAVVY! Each month SAVVY, the magazine for executive women supplies you with the tools you need to get ahead: from career strategies to management techniques; financial tips to health advice plus business news, fashion, book reviews, humor and more. Take a look at the SAVVY formula and you'll see why almost a million women have joined the network of successful SAVVY readers. Fill out the attached card and subscribe today. You'll pay just $1.00/copy and save 50% off the newsstand price! CAREER STRATEGIES MAKE YOURSELF MEMORABLE. There's a difference between finding opportunities to promote yourself quietly and trying too hard. WHO HAS THE POWER IN THE CORPORATE CLAN? Your role in the corporate culture may be significantly different from-and more powerful than-your job function. FINANCIAL FINESSE THE GOING RATE How does your salary rate against men and women in your field. It could be time for a raise. RATING THE SAFETY OF MONEY FUNDS Are they all that safe, all the time? SINKING ON TWO INCOMES How a financial planner can rescue you! MANAGEMENT SKILLS ARE YOUR REALLY A MANAGER? Job titles are irrelevant. What counts are tasks and responsibilities. HOW TO SIZE UP KEY PEOPLE. Learning how to evaluate the reliability of brokers and suppliers can save your business. PERSONAL DIRECTION WHAT PRICE MOTHERHOOD? The controversial new way to combine career and family. SHORT-TERM THERAPY There's help when you need it in just twelve sessions. LOVE TRIANGLES REVEALED How rivals in romance become doubles in destiny. [[newspaper cover]] NO-RISK SUBSCRIPTION OFFER When you subscribe today, you'll receive our guarantee: If, at any time you are not pleased with your SAVVY subscription, we'll send you a full refund on all unmailed issues. Fill out the attached card and mail it in today. At just $1.00 per/copy, you'll save 50% off what others pay at the newsstand and enjoy convenient home delivery. Join over one million monthly readers who have discovered the SAVVY formula for success by subscribing today! SAVVY, P.O. Box 2495, Boulder, Colorado 80302 ...AND SAVE 50% Circle Number 1 on Reader Service Card [[next page]] Make every effort to discover and cultivate common ground with your bosses' wives. This could be as simple as finding out that you attended the same high school or that one of them is president of the local drama club. Even if you don't win them over immediately, you are at least demonstrating that you are interested in them as individuals. You'll also show the department managers the strength of your character, and even if their wives continue their cattiness, your bosses will know that it's through no fault of yours. In short, emphasizing your own best qualities often brings out the best in others. Ken replies: No matter what you do, don't waste any time analyzing their rudeness. All that soul-searching Adrienne suggests is useless. As my friend Spencer Johnson taught me, "Spending time analyzing things wastes the most important moment in your life-right now." So stay in the precious present and either confront or ignore. My vote is to confront. If you want to put an end to their [[cuts off]] [[subscription card]] When I took this job, I understood that I would be on the same level as the two other account executives, both of whom were hired two months before I was. However, it has become painfully clear that I am nothing but a trainee to my boss. While the others are privvy to information and are given complete project control, I am isolated in a back office, am not allowed to attend meetings, have never met our clients, and must accept work and guidance from the other two AE's. Even worse, they edit my work and put their names on it. All this is sanctioned by my boss. I wouldn't have taken this job if I had known I would be an administrative assistant. Furthermore, in this company, the amount you produce indicates your worth. Although I have produced, no one knows it. In fact, my boss tells me to give my work directly to the other two AE's and sometimes never sees what I have done. I tried talking to my boss but she got extremely angry and told me she doesn't care if this job isn't what I expected. I wonder if I should try to stick it out here for a while (because I've been here only a month) or if I should leave now. If I make a fuss, I'll be fired. If I stay, what kind of respect can I command and what kind of future will I have if these two vultures continue to receive recognition for my work? Carol [[cuts off]] A more likely possibility is that your peers are using your lack of agency experience as an excuse to give you assignments and then mask your performance. You must play the "clarification without confrontation" game. The only players are you and your boss. Approach her again, but make a conscious effort to be constructive, not defensive. Tell her that you are comfortable in your job and are ready to accept some responsibility. Clearly state how your enthusiasm will solve some problems for her. If she agrees to give you more responsibility, be prepared to offer specific ideas that will put you into the company's mainstream. If she doubts your abilities, be equally ready to show her examples of work your peers have plagiarized. Show her these only as evidence that you are capable of more. Let her draw her own conclusions about your colleagues' behavior. ----------------------------- What future will I have if these two vultures continue to receive recognition for my work? ----------------------------- Reinforce your focus on the future by asking her advice on how you can best reach your potential. Speak in terms of "we" instead of "I." For example, say, "Our department could run more efficiently if we all understood our roles." In this way, you are clarifying as a team member rather than confronting as an individual. This strategy assumes that your boss has the best interests of the company at heart. If she doesn't, your only alternative is to leave immediately. Adrienne Rivera-Sutherland, PhD, is a Connecticut therapist. Ken Blanchard, PhD, is chairman of Blanchard Training and Development in Escondido, California, and coauthor of The One-Minute Manager (Morrow, 1982) If you have a problem you would like to see addressed in this column, send your letter to Strategies, c/o Savvy, 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10011. Anonymity is guaranteed. February 1984/Savvy 17
