Ten reasons to brown nose
It’s a good idea to brown nose IF:
1. You’re good at ingratiation. Bosses are no better than the average person at detecting a snow job, says University of Michigan business strategy chair James Westphal. If you know how to lay it on thick, go for it.
2. You’re unlikeable and/or good at giving others a guilt trip. Compliments, even disingenuous ones, often cause bosses to feel the need to reciprocate with favoritism, even to employees they don't like.
3. You’re alone with the boss. Co-workers will see the manipulation for what it is.
4. The boss accomplishes something significant, not run-of-the-mill stuff (unless you’re really expert at slinging the s***)
5. You can convince yourself it’s sincere. Dale Carnegie embraced the art of sincere flattery, and his disciples see it as helping to reduce workplace conflict.
6. You want to change the head honcho’s behavior. When the boss does something you like, issue praise. Aubrey Daniels, author of Oops! 13 Management Practices that Waste Time and Money, says, "Bosses are like anyone else. Behavior that is never positively reinforced will stop. Behavior that is effectively reinforced will continue."
7. You have a particularly bad boss. Just as bosses are advised to try to catch bad employees in the act of doing something right, it’s wise to catch a bad boss stumbling onto the right thing. It will feel unnatural, says Coldwell Banker CEO Jim Gillespie, but it will help them become better.
8. You have a new boss. They’re more susceptible than veteran bosses to brown nosing. If your boss is a grizzled old-timer, be more subtle with compliments. Praise the team under their charge and by using "we" instead of "you.”
9. You’re a woman and your boss is a man. Male bosses are especially vulnerable to ingratiation by women, says Mary Lou Quinlan, the onetime advertising director at Avon Products. "Women are by nature more subtle, more facile half-truth-tellers," she says, and expert at knowing what to say to get others to like them.
10. There’s an economic downturn. The employee who makes the boss feel less insecure will stay employed in a bad economy, Quinlan says. Susan Story, CEO of American Water, says she once delivered an economic update that included discouraging news for the company. One employee said, "I know we have tough times ahead of us, but I don't worry that we will make it through as long as you are here."
Three reasons not to brown nose
Don’t brown nose IF:
1. You want what’s best for the company. The right thing is to honestly challenge the boss, says Chris Kearney, retired CEO of Fortune 500 manufacturer SPX. However, offer constructive criticism at your own risk. A study by human resources firm PsyMax found that 83% of non-management employees were good at taking criticism, but that fell to 78% of those promoted to supervisor or foreman and to 66% among CEOs, presidents and chief operating officers.
2. You want the boss to have two feet on the the ground. An article in the journal Psychological Science, entitled "When the Boss Feels Inadequate," discourages boss flattery because it can cause the boss to lose touch with reality.
3. You don’t want to be nicknamed Eddie Haskell. There’s value in feeling like you don’t need to take a shower.
Del Leonard Jones, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, authored the historical novel, The Cremation of Sam McGee built upon the poem of Robert W. Service. The novel is set in the 1898 heyday of yellow journalism and travels from Cuba to the Yukon. The narrator is a fabricating newspaper reporter working for William Randolph Hearst during the Spanish-American War and Gold Rush. The first chapter is here.
Jones, a leadership expert, has also edited Advice from the Top: 1001 Bits of Business Wisdom. The book focuses on the leadership advice of Fortune 500 CEO's such as Fred Smith of FedEx, but also gets advice from athletes, coaches, entertainers and experts.
