Then a new thought begins to sound in the mind: How do I get ahead? How do I boost my paycheck, get a better job? The thrust of this question originates from two sources. First, our culture in general has a get-ahead tradition. But a secondary source-and in some companies more than others-is that there's a kind of stimulation in the air. A large percentage of people become preoccupied with the idea of advancement. Many companies foster this attitude by making their employees aware of the desirability of and the potential for advancement. By sparking a spirit of competitiveness, top management hopes to get a livelier, more result-oriented group of employees and a consequent improvement in performance.
When the realization hits, a certain individual is immediately beset by the question "How? How does one get ahead?" By what strategies and tactics does one begin to forge ahead of one's peers?
There's one ready answer. It's the "good" reason, the one you'll hear from your boss: "Work hard, do your work well, and you'll eventually get recognition." But as Winston Churchill said, "There are always two reasons for something happening-a good reason and a real reason."
Despite the implied cynicism of the Churchillian statement, the good reason-hard, result-getting labor-often does apply. People have progressed in their job situations by outstanding performance. However, there are other factors that make for job success-factors that your boss is less likely to stress. They are luck and opportunity.
Consider the matter of luck. James Cagney, one of the outstanding movie stars of the thirties and forties, described a key episode in his professional life:
"I heard they were hiring actors for a show and I turned up at the audition hall along with dozens of other would-be's. After a while a man came out-I later learned it was George Kelly, the playwright. He looked over the big crowd, suddenly spotted me and said, 'O.K., you. You've got the job.' " Cagney agrees that this break was the bit of good luck that launched him on the way to stardom.
There is no question that luck plays an important part in many careers. The only problem is that it's generally unpredictable and uncontrollable. True, many people say you can "make your own luck," but when you analyze what they mean, it turns out that they are really talking about learning how to manipulate the second factor just mentioned, opportunity.
People who develop a sensitivity to situations and directions that promise a big payoff for them are doing a good deal to resolve the achievement crisis. But opportunity is a funny thing. It seldom is 2 + 2 = 4. As a matter of fact, if the opportunities are too obvious, there can be a wild scramble in which you are just one of several competitors. If someone on the echelon above you is moving out, you probably won't be the only one entertaining the idea of a possible promotion.
Opportunity spotting can be a highly creative act. It requires imagination to analyze the situation and see how it can be turned to advantage.
For example, during the Vietnam action, Tom Brett, coming out of Boston College, decided to become a conscientious objector. He went to the draft board of his small town outside Boston and requested CO status. As Tom tells the story in later years, somewhat ruefully, "After considerable hassle, the board eventually agreed to give me CO status. They didn't do it out of respect for my principles, but because my family was well known and respected in town."
As alternative service, the board told Brett he would have to serve as an orderly in a local institution devoted to the care of retarded people. Obviously no picnic.
Brett began his three years of service. Although he liked the idea of helping handicapped individuals, the work itself ran the gamut from stomach-turning to barely tolerable. But as the months went by, Tom Brett realized that he was in an unusual situation that offered vocational opportunity. In line with this idea, he began to learn as much as he could about institutional operations, both from his own firsthand experience and from self-programmed studies. He familiarized himself with as many of the departmental and specialized activities as he could.
His strategy eventually paid off. The week after he finished his three years of service-the Vietnam adventure had finally come to an end-there was a staff opening for a deputy director. Of the fifty candidates, Tom Brett was easily the best qualified and got the job.
For the careerist, the how-to-get-ahead question is a repetitive crisis. Keep in mind as you move ahead through the different stages that as your personal situation changes, the shape and appearance of opportunity tend to change. For example, in Stage II, a good move may be to get yourself transferred into a job where you will be working with a manager who is a good teacher. You will learn more and faster.
By Stage III, developing opportunity may be a matter of figuring out the direction in which your company is going to grow and learning the technology and related matters that will become the prime areas of activity.
But remember: For many, the urge to surge ahead is a continuing need that satisfies aspirations but also creates crises-everything from how to survive, to success, to learning how to bear up under the loneliness at the top.
