by Maria Papadopoulou

Created on: August 18, 2009

Like everyone else, you want to get along with the boss, as this helps you work more effectively. When trying too hard to get along though, you are sucking up to the boss. Is that good though? Lets take a look.

By sucking up to the boss you accomplish:

1) Getting in the boss's good graces.Every boss likes to hear how brilliant and effective he is, (regardless of whether that is actually true or not), especially a boss who is on a power trip, or a seriously insecure one. You can rest assured that before you know it, your boss will start dragging you with him on every meeting and conference as his lucky charm.

2.) Getting away with everything with a pat on the back. By sucking up to the boss, you effectively kill every sadistic desire he has when it comes to you. It is no longer a big deal if you come to work 10 minutes late on a daily basis, if you made a few typos on that report the other day or if you sometimes get caught playing poker on your computer. Your boss completely understands and graciously forgives you for everything.

3) Having more chances of getting promoted. Bosses prefer giving promotions to employees that they don't feel threatened by. You fall into that category since you are so eager to please your boss that you are willing to do anything he wants and more.

4) Having more chances of getting a raise. The economy is bad enough as it is, and no boss really wants to give raises anyway, however if push comes to shove, being one of the boss's favorites helps you stand a better chance of getting a raise than others do.

5) Being pushed away by your colleagues. While your boss's ego may get a serious boost by your sucking up to him, that is definitely not the case for your colleagues who will most likely get irritated by it, especially when they see that you are favored over them and that they end up paying the price for your wrongdoings (your boss needs to blame someone, and if it can't be you, then it must be them). They will start alienating you, gossiping behind your back, even trying to sabotage you if they get too jealous. The workplace will turn into a battlefield, where the law of the jungle will be followed.

6) Being constantly tested. While your boss will highly appreciate your enormous efforts to please him, that doesn't necessarily mean that he will blindly trust you though. On the contrary, it is possible for him to start regularly testing you to see if your intentions are sincere, or if you have ulterior motives. The old saying'' it is too good to be true'' will propably be haunting him for a long while, and in that case you need to remember that you will be guilty until proven innocent, unless you will be given the benefit of the doubt.

So is sucking up to your boss a good thing after all? The choice is yours.

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