Adapted from ORGANIZATION SMARTS: Portable Skills for Professionals Who Want to Get Ahead by David Brown, © 1999. All rights reserved. Published by AMACOM Books, www.amacombooks.org, Division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. To order call: 1-800-262-9699

If you want to get ahead, you have to learn about your company — and what people in that organization know about you. A good reputation is an especially invaluable asset for someone always ready to move on to new opportunities.

Your performance, your character, even your prospects, are matters of opinion, aspects that are far from being within your control. Reputation building is a curious joint venture. You own the project, but it's not yours alone to build.

Try these tips to get ahead in your company:

1. Live up to your reputation.

Know why you were hired or promoted. You should make an effort to find out what it is about you that others particularly value. It may not be so obvious as you think.

If you don't know why you were chosen, you may find it harder to fulfill their expectations. Getting such feedback makes it easier to live up to your reputation, knowing what it looks like from someone's point of view other than your own.

2. Talk to your predecessor.

When you succeed to someone else's job, it's very easy to think you can do better, and it makes you less interested in learning from that person. But this is a big mistake.

Instead, ask your predecessor what his or her expectations were when starting off in your new position. What adjustments did she have to make? What advice does he have for you? When you learn about your predecessor's priorities and operating style, compare them to your own. Everyone around will need some time to adjust to the differences.

3. Embrace your detractors.

It helps to know why some people hang back or seem a bit hostile. Maybe they wanted the position that you got or preferred someone else. Don't avoid them even though they prefer to avoid you.

Use the bear hug approach — try to keep them close so they can't hit you as easily. When two people in an organization have their differences, they often stop trying to learn more about each other, something that can help their working relationship.

4. Find the "custodians."

Understanding the organization and how it really works is indispensable if you want to make your mark early and well. Look for the unofficial leaders, those you can learn from about the culture of the place — what makes it special and what people value. They may not have important titles or functions, but they speak for others. Seek them out and learn what you can.

5. Get to know the gatekeepers.

The resources of an organization are always limited and contested. Obviously those with power and authority are in command of resources, but it is usually their assistants, lacking any official power of their own, who act as resource gatekeepers.

6. Walk your talk.

Be sure to make your actions consistent with your words. You want to be believable so that people will take you seriously. Will you actually do what you say? Once your word is doubted, you will find it harder to get things done that require not just your follow-through but the cooperation of others as well.

7. Work with others to frame a problem.

What works for you has to work for others, too. It is not enough to think you know what the problem is. It also matters what other players think the problem is.

It is not enough to think you know what the solution is; it also matters if the other players think that your solution fits their conception of what the problem is. Even if your solution does, they may think they have better solutions than yours. When you frame a problem with others, getting it right is often less important than getting agreement on how to proceed — it has to be constructed together.

8. Help your boss.

Your boss is entitled to know what is going on, but she also is entitled to your best efforts in helping her deal with bad news. Rightly or wrongly, the higher-up often links the messenger with message.

Consider delivering the message with a remedy in mind. Don't just lay out the problem and then steal away. Your advice or remedy may or may not work, but at least your boss knows you are looking to fix the problem.

9. Prepare for meetings.

Meetings involve complicated interpersonal and group dynamics that can surprise the participants and derail their proceedings. Pre-meetings with key players can sometimes avoid an ambush.

If a player has a chance to vent his frustrations with you, he may not feel compelled to do so in the meeting, where his outburst may sidetrack whatever you are trying to accomplish.

10. Organize your agenda. Try to organize a meeting agenda so that it's not threatened from the outset by a badly-timed piece of business. Start with something everyone is likely to agree on.

If consensus is reached, take the time to restate it as best you can so those attending have a chance to agree or disagree with your interpretation. Ask for dissent, and don't assume silence is golden. If you solicit their opinions in the meeting, they may be more reluctant to air their reservations later outside the meeting.

Organizational Smarts is available through AMACOM Books.

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