In order to get a head at work you need to play the game, at least a little bit. Anyone who says otherwise is hamstringing their career or lying to you. You need to make yourself likable to the higher ups whether you like it or not but as you do your coworkers may start to resent you. A brown nose, a suck up, and many other names may be used for someone trying to get a head. While to succeed you should be trying to rub shoulders with the higher ups there is a right way and a wrong way to do this.

In order to climb the corporate ladder you don’t have to be a sniveling snake that is only out for themselves. In fact it’s the opposite. If all you do is look out for yourself you can get ahead, but not far. Eventually it will catch up to you. You will be branded not trustworthy and no one will want to work with you. Being a team player is actually the best way to get ahead. However you do have to be smart about it! You don’t want to do all the work, give all the credit and get nothing for it! This website is about getting what you deserve and not getting taken advantage of after all. So let’s go over five tips on how to suck up at work and not be hated!

Show up 15 Minutes Early and Stay 15 Minutes late.

This was one of the first rules I was taught by my father in order to stand out at work. It’s a very minor adjustment to your schedule but has a huge long term impact. This small change help you stand out to your boss as someone who goes the extra mile. While others are doing the bare minimum you are giving 110%! This not only gives you the ability to stand out it also makes your day less stressful. Those 15 minutes in the morning gives you more time to settle in, get organized and plan your day. The 15 minutes at the end of the day will also give you time to finish all your work properly and clear out your to do list so you have less issues you have to deal with in the morning. You will have more time in the day to utilize the other strategies on this list as well!

Ask for Advice

Asking advice on how to do your job is a very subtle way to show more effort at work without drawing the hate of your peers. It’s a humble act asking for help and advice. Too often people try to be a pillar of perfection and not admit faults. Asking people, your boss or coworkers, for advice is a great way to improve your abilities and also show that you genuinely want to improve. Asking for advice shows that you want to get better so people are more likely to invest their time and effort in you rather than someone who acts like they know it all. This also gives you a little more forgiveness when you do make a mistake as you will be known as someone who admits they are not perfect but actively trying to better themselves. The people you ask for help will be more inclined to stick up for you if there happens to be negative discussion about you while you are not around.

Create Cheat Sheets and Guides

This is one of my newer practices and found that it is extremely useful. I have always been someone who would take reminders and useful information regarding my work and simplify it down to a sign sheet so I can keep it as quick reference on the cubicle wall. Recently though I have been cleaning these sheets up to be a little more professional looking and sharing them with the team. The feedback from both coworker and management alike has been overwhelmingly positive. People are very grateful for anything that can make their job a little easier or less time consuming. If you start to make a couple of these a year you can begin to become an expert on your topic in your company. This is a great way to gain credibility quickly when you are younger.

Volunteer for Additional Responsibilities

Asking for additional responsibilities is important in gaining trust to rise higher up. It shows commitment to your career. The key here is going above and beyond what is expected. As long as you don’t overdo this, jumping on every single opportunity so no one else can, your peers will be grateful that you are able to handle it so they don’t. If management won’t give you any additional responsibilities you can always ask those that do have extra responsibilities if they could use some assistance. This work can be more grunt work but it can get you in the discussion of additional tasks and greater responsibility. Remember more responsibilities GENERALLY mean more money. With helping out a peer you will want to make sure you trust this person as it is very easy to get taken advantage of. Getting proper credit is important at work; I don’t want you working all these extra tasks and have no one notice you. If you help someone you should be included in the email chains and be at the meetings if possible.

Find ways to improve the system

Too often people will just complain about a flawed system or simply just deal with it. Everyone might see a problem but no one says anything because it’s just the way it is. However if you can clearly articulate a problem and suggest a possible fix as well you’d be surprised how often management wasn’t even aware of it due to it just being considered the status quo. Doing this in private in a one on one with your boss would be best as there maybe reasons why it can’t be done. You maybe are able to brain storm a solution together this way and you might find yourself with a new task in overseeing the fix. This has worked out well for me countless times. If a system isn’t optimized it drives me insane so I am always trying to tweak a system to improve efficiency. Being able to improve a workflow system is a fantastic indicator of management potential. Your coworkers will also appreciate all the improvements that take place due to you. Improving your job can improve everyone’s job.

Now if you do these 5 tips on sucking up you should start to be liked more by management without sacrificing any standing with your peers. See you don’t have to be an evil Littlefinger-esk character to reach the top. Everyone should be looking for ways to improve themselves and company; these tips are simply just about making sure you do it in a way you can get noticed! Now get ready to climb that ladder of success.

If you have any other advice on how to suck up to management without being hated by your peers let me know if the comments I’d love to hear what you have to say!

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