Two Kinds Of Employees
There are two ways to climb any ladder of progress, especially in corporate environments. Either you grease a lot of palms, or you build a solid reputation. Neither approach is inherently wrong; they simply lead to different outcomes. Greasing palms may sound simple, but it isn’t. It requires the strategic identification of people who have the power to influence your remuneration and elevate your status.
Once they are identified, the next step is to understand what they seek and how they think. You then structure your work to align with their vision. In doing so, you risk alienating your colleagues and even your manager. But since you have already concluded that they lack the power to elevate your status, you may consider that risk acceptable. Just be careful not to offend them enough to turn them into enemies—that can easily work against you.
The drawback of this approach is that you become heavily dependent on your ability to read people rather than on the quality of your actual work. You remain average in substance. You may become someone who gets things done by leveraging position and influence, but never someone who can get things done independently. That is one of the trade-offs this path demands.
The second way is to become genuinely good at what you do—so skilled that you build a reputation within your circle. You operate with high integrity and naturally become a reliable resource within the organization. Colleagues trust you because you have the competence to execute and the integrity to honor your word. Over time, your word begins to carry weight. People are willing to do you favors because they know you are worth the extra effort.
However, this second kind often suffers in a different way. They may not always be aligned with top leadership, and even if they are, the top bosses may not even know they exist. Such individuals are usually strong team players and deeply embedded within their teams. Their immediate managers value them, but since those managers often lack the power to meaningfully elevate them, the second kind frequently feels stuck and underappreciated.
In most institutions, there is a constant tension between these two types. Some people attempt to switch roles to see which path yields better rewards, but this is both risky and harmful. You can only truly be one. You must choose the side that resonates with you. The first path delivers tangible rewards but rarely earns reputation. The second builds reputation but does not always provide immediate returns. Success is possible with both approaches, but the pace of success differs.
Whatever path you choose, you must accept its trade-offs. Once you do, it becomes easier to stay committed. Since both paths can lead to material success, it ultimately comes down to what the individual is most desperate for.