First Among Equals

Likings at the workplace are very subjective. But they can make all the difference in someone feeling good about their work environment or feeling awful about it.
Im particularly referring to liking for certain people for no obvious reason- THEY ARE SIMPLY LIKED and PREFERRED OVER OTHERS. So even if they dont make any significant, worthwhile contribution to the work, they will get undue importance and attention. Interestingly this is not reserved for unmarried girls. The young married girls are equally strong contenders for this liking.
So while Im slogging my butt off, behaving politely with my superiors and not doing anything, whatsoever to make them feel insecure, making noteworthy contributions by doing quality work, I dont get even a fraction of the attention given to the subject of the HODs liking.
Im sure many of my creditworthy counterparts face this in their organizations. Has anyone been able to tackle this.
My strategy so far has been to be nice t this subject of liking. I infact join him politely when he is showering his love and affection for her and she kind of basks in all the glory. The reason for this is that he gets quite protective of her if ever a snide remark is passed or if she is made the butt of a mean joke.
But honestly I feel absolutely irritated about it. Why should there be a first among equals at the workplace? Its one of the most demotivating truths dominating workplaces today

KCK- The bitter corporate truth

Today I watched Karthik calling Karthik. I really liked the movie for many reasons. I like Frahan, I like Deepika, I like them as a pair, their chemistry rocks. But what really touched me about the film was Farhans moments of glory in his office after constantly having to take crap from his boss despite being so good and earnest at his work. Mind you, his boss even takes him for a meeting half way till such time that he needs to and feel secure about all paperwork work being right....afterall, thats what will clinch him the deal. Not once does the obnoxious guy think that here is my golden goose, let me impart him some training on handling client meetings and my business will rock. Instead he bullies Karthik, trampling over the confidence of an already under- confident guy so ruthlessly. What they showed was so true. Thats how the cororate world functions. Its ruthless with those who show even a little weakness, no matter how good they may be at their work. One has to be an expert at camoflaguing ones weaknesses. While many organizations boast of imparting training on personality development, its nothing more than a tick in the box for HR. the truth is- organizations want people who will deliver from day one. They only take from you, theres not much that they give. Hence YOU have to learn to take as much as possible from the organization.
- Ask, ask, and ask shamelessly- At the most you will get a No for an answer.
- Be assertive
- Ask to be send for training programme
- Ask to be send for seminars
- Ask to be allowed to attend meetings wherever possible