Franke James is Editor/Founder of Office-Politics.com and Inventor of the Office-Politics® Game.

Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss.

Dina Beach Lynch, is an Ombudsman, Author and former attorney. An award-winning mediator, Dina served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues.

Dr. Rick Brandon is CEO of Brandon Partners. He has consulted and trained tens of thousands at corporations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries.

Dr. Marty Seldman is one of America's most experienced executive coaches. His 35-year career includes expertise in executive coaching, group dynamics, cross-cultural studies, clinical psychology, and training.

Arnie Herz, is a lawyer, mediator, speaker, author and consultant nationally recognized for his practical and inspired approach to conflict resolution and client counseling.

Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.

I am getting fairly distressed here. I am at the start of my career in accounting, and I am facing quite a tough situation...

Brandon and Seldman respond: It's critical to adjust any mindset that reads, "I've done a great job and achieved terrific results, while pouring hours of overtime in continually. My results will speak for themselves." No. Not enough. We must practice the political and organizational savvy strategy we call Balanced Self-Promotion..."

August 2006

Dear Office-Politics,

I am getting fairly distressed here. I am at the start of my career in accounting, and I am facing quite a tough situation. Frankly, I have been a very hard worker, and I did so many hours of overtime. I am at the brink of being evaluated for promotion, and a good evaluation from each of my engagements will impact my promotion opportunity.

To make the story very easy to understand, here are the issues. I had 2 engagements back to back: let's call the first engagement "Client 1", and the second engagement "Client 2".

On Client 1, I worked with a manager on the job, Ms. Z, and worked closely with 2 senior associates, the first senior being Mr. X, and the second senior being Ms. Y. I was on Client 1 where I was doing really well. I outperformed everyone else at the same level on my team, demonstrating my strong technical knowledge and efficiency. Both Mr. X and Ms. Y on the job were impressed with my performance and really liked me. My entire team was going great, and the engagement was just smooth sail until I rolled off the job.

The engagement itself requires at least 3 weeks of intense work. However, I was the only person the team booked on the job only for 2 weeks. I worked as hard as I could - but at the point when I rolled off my job to start on Client 2, my work was not complete as I was missing information from the client. When I rolled off the job, I told the manager on the job, Ms. Z, and Mr. X that I will work on the file after I finish work on another engagement. So I did a lot of overtime for that job even after I rolled off. But even then, my sections were still not completely finished, because working remotely from the engagement just didn't help. It also doesn't help when I had to work 18 hour days continuously (half the time on my new engagement, and half the time on this old one).

I later found out from my friends on the job that there had been some issues arising from the engagement. And being the only team member no longer on that job, Mr. X shoved the responsibilities for the issues on to me. I suppose that was convenient for him, since I wasn't there to stand up for myself.

Then a week later, I got a call from the manager Ms. Z, who questions me on why I booked so much time on the engagement but the sections are still unfinished. I tried to explain to her in person, but she could not be reached. I left her a message on her voice mail - but I suppose the manager is annoyed enough that we blew the budget, and she didn't even call me back.

Please help me! I have been so stressed out about this situation. Clearly, I'm in for a really bad review. I have tried to explain myself so many times, but nobody is willing to listen. To make matters worse, Mr. X is a backstabber (the entire team knows that) and blames me for the errors! (He also blames other members on the team for various errors and mistakes).

What should I do? I really need a good review for the promotion! Please help me! And please give me some tips on how I can defend myself against backstabbers, and how to save myself when people cast their blames on me and I'm not even around to defend myself!

Auditor-in-a-Panic

Dear Auditor-in-a-Panic,

We once worked with an auditor who told us he was viewed as "Darth Vader" when he was only trying to help the company to manage risk. It certainly sounds like you are in tune with the light side of "The Force," to use Star Wars metaphors, but forgot that there are some people who do cross over to the "Dark Side." Especially when there are factors present like fear, pressure, and/or greed. Here, Mr. X sounds by nature to be less than trustworthy and now we pile on the issue of his wanting to cover his own backside. So he makes you the scapegoat.

We feel your pain! But it's not so uncommon in corporate life, so we advise people who have been naive and overly trusting to remember to "Love everyone, but trust no one!" This doesn't make you cynical and pessimistic, just realistic–– about the upsides of human nature, AND the downsides.

Therefore, it's critical to adjust any mindset that reads, "I've done a great job and achieved terrific results, while pouring hours of overtime in continually. My results will speak for themselves." No. Not enough. We must practice the political and organizational savvy strategy we call Balanced Self-Promotion, which entails ensuring that others see our 'hand print' on our work, that we document going the extra mile, that we make public our accomplishments without being crass... especially as promotion and review times approach. Otherwise, we leave ourselves open to being under-estimated at best, and boxed out or sabotaged at worse. So, did you send ongoing documentation of your double du ty hours? Did you clearly write the work accomplished and that pending that needed X's, Y's, and Z's attention as part of the baton passing. If not, you could be blamed for letting things fall between the cracks. You see, part of project management includes ensuring that details are handled when you're not around. We're not saying you are the one who is wrong, just how to go the extra mile to protect yourself and build a reputation for seeing the big picture, being even more mindful of overall team success, and avoiding a repeat. Also, who is the person that dictated your being "rolled off" the first Client 1 project? Next time, make sure that person clearly communicates with you about the implications as we've outlined. Otherwise, "rolling off" can again become "rolling over."

Now, regarding what to do now, don't give up on Manager Z since she may in fact simply be too busy given the now extra work and hassles. Go again in a contrite fashion, but not overly defensive to explain and clear the air, as well as to offer whatever support you can in cleaning up the mess. Apologize for not having more clearly understood what leaving one project might have meant, while also balancing this acknowledgment with the process suggest that the entire team learn process-wise from the experience that when roll-offs occur, there needs to be a clear form and process for preventing items from getting dropped. Walk her through it all. If she refuses to meet, consider documenting through a letter/memo rather than an email especially if you worry that she could just forward your email and frame it as your admission you were wrong. That is NOT the intent. It's problem solving and setting the record straight. you were far from negligent, just naive and overly trusting. Pe rhaps misjudging or mis-communicating (under-communicating) how your pieces would be handled. But attempt to share blame if anything by noting you were no longer officially on the project and Mr. X and Ms. Y in all fairness could ask for what is needed, allowing you to discuss with Z and problem solve the workload. Usually clear messages and communication upfront prevent such problems.

Finally, you do have the option of playing hardball with Mr. X if what you say is true, that he has a pattern of blaming others unfairly. You might feel free to lobby others to stand up for you in case it's needed. You'll of course risk a reputation as a blamer yourself, but sometimes this last resort to protect your own reputation is appropriate. If so, make sure you have the political stock to survive this, so that he does not further take you down if he has more strategic alliances with more powerful people than you do. Ponder this one carefully first. If you move forward, stay "behavioral" in your terms and language, avoiding evaluative words about him, just describing the facts objectively and avoiding inferential language.

Let us know what happens and hang in there! You will never let this happen again, will you! That's the upside. Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.com

Best,

Rick and Marty

Rick Brandon, Ph.D. and Marty Seldman, Ph.D., Co-authors
Survival of the Savvy: High-Integrity Political Tactics for Career and Company Success
www.survivalofthesavvy.com

Feedback from Auditor-No-Longer-In-Panic!

Thank you so much for the reply! The answer from Dr. Brandon and Dr. Seldman is much appreciated! The situation was resolved earlier through other means (I sought help from an individual more senior than those X, Y, and Z involved; and Mr. X got rid of himself, thank goodness). Nonetheless, the response made some really good points. Being at the start of my career and still at the bottom of the corporate ladder, both Dr. Brandon and Dr. Seldman provided excellent coaching points (i.e. working hard is great, but I should let people know that I had worked hard for them; and love everyone but trust no one - in a realistic way). Their examples of how I can save myself from these situations in the future were also helpful, and most importantly, those recommendations are "doable"! Thank you office politics! I can now be Auditor-No-Longer-In-Panic!