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Excerpts from Cracking the Corporate Code

Jerri DeVard's lesson in managing her boss was more straightforward. After a four-year run in marketing at Pillsbury starting in the mid-l980s, with stellar performance and regular promotions, she found herself with a boss who challenged everything she did. This challenge came at a time when the pyramid was beginning to narrow; there were not as many promotions to go around. It was no longer enough for her simply to focus on an excellent work product. She had to become more politically sophisticated. For someone as outspoken and independent as DeVard, this was a problem initially. Fortunately she found a mentor. "I had to enter the political realm, and an angel helped me navigate. My angel had just arrived as the first African-American director for Pillsbury, a very strong woman and very bright, not only about business but about the world. I learned so much from her, beginning with how to manage my boss. She said, 'Well, okay, I know something about this individual and how he thinks. Let me tell you a little bit about how you can handle that.' I started thinking from a different perspective, and it was very useful.

"Up until then everything had been just great. I spent all of my time running the business, head down, saying, 'Okay, my results will speak for themselves.' I never, ever put any energy into managing my boss. I just hopped on the bike and rode it. I didn't stop and say, 'Maybe this is a mountain bike, maybe this has four wheels.' I never managed up, or was even just a little bit deferential, like saying, 'That's a good point, I hadn't thought about that.' My whole thing was, 'Why would we do that? I mean, what more hoops can I jump through?' 'Well, these, now that you mention it.' That was difficult for me. I had to understand how my boss made decisions and recommendations and manage to that as opposed to my old way of doing things.

"Although part of me asked, 'Why do I have to prove this to you,' most of me said, 'I'm going to be promoted, and I'm going to do whatever it takes. I'm going to be relentless about proving to you I deserve this.' I refused to quit because in my mind that would have been out and out failure. I don't know if race and gender were factors, but I don't think so. I think it was truly that I had not demonstrated to him I was ready. Then he left the company. I got a new boss, and I was happy until it was time for the next promotion, and the same thing started again. I've seen this movie before. I turned myself inside out to get that promotion, too."