Karen Dillon > Quotes

“your relationship with your boss is as much a reflection of what you put into it as what your boss does,”
― Karen Dillon, HBR Guide to Office Politics

“Every office is political. For years, I naively thought I worked at a place that wasn’t. I saw our office as more or less fair, more or less healthy, and highly inclusive—perhaps overly so—in decision making. People competed with themselves, I’d proudly tell prospective recruits, not with one another. And I meant it. All those good things I believed? They were true—but only to a point, I realize with hindsight. We competed with ourselves, but also with one another. Our bosses had favorites, and we noticed. We grumbled about promotions that didn’t seem deserved, assignments that didn’t seem fair. People subtly found ways to elbow one another out of pole position for C-suite attention. Our office was political. Of course it was.”
― Karen Dillon, HBR Guide to Office Politics

“The secret to effective relationship building through reciprocity is to give before you ask,”
― Karen Dillon, HBR Guide to Office Politics

“Don’t merely scratch at a problem. Flag it, and then show up at the meeting with ideas on how you can fix whatever is going wrong. Be a problem solver:”
― Karen Dillon, HBR Guide to Office Politics

“your former peer lashes out?”
― Karen Dillon, HBR Guide to Office Politics