Kissing up to the boss: what it is and what to do about it.

This article focuses on subordinate kissing up or ingratiatory behaviors. Within organizations, ingratiation is defined as illicit attempts by subordinates to increase their interpersonal attractiveness in the eyes of their manager. (1) In other words, the subordinate is trying to obtain the manager's approval. The end goal is to obtain valued career outcomes such as promotions, raises, and desirable assignments. (2)

A discussion of ingratiation has important implications for understanding workplace behavior for several reasons. First, the pervasive existence of ingratiation and its consequences are easily established by common experience. (3) That is, ingratiation can be observed during nearly all organizational activities from the boardroom to the bathroom. The behavior is a much talked and joked about phenomenon, frequently the topic of spirited hallway discussions. In addition, we have a plethora of denigrating terms describing a coworker's ingratiation from "sucking up" to "brown nosing," to "schmoozing." We even have the familiar smooching sound effect portraying a colleague's kissing up activity.

Addressing ingratiation also is important because of the potentially detrimental organizational consequences. Accordingly, the approach taken here is to review common ingratiating behaviors, identify potential causes, and discuss the dark side of ingratiation for managers and organizations. Several examples illustrating these concepts will be provided. The article concludes with recommendations on how managers can minimize ingratiation.

Common Ingratiation Behaviors

In their seminal work, Edward Jones, Camille Wortman, and Joan Linsenmeier identified four ingratiation strategies (Table One). (4) The effectiveness of the strategies is a function of subtlety and frequency of use as well as the attributions the manager makes regarding the ingratiator's manipulative motives. These strategies include other enhancement, opinion conformity, favor doing, and self-presentation. The goal of all four strategies is to secure the manager's favorable evaluation.

Other Enhancement

First, other enhancement or flattery is ingratiation in its purest form. Here, the subordinate engages in exaggerated admiration, compliments, praises, and generally "butters up the boss." The particularly astute flatterer will vocalize high positive regard for attributes about which the manager is insecure, e.g., physical appearance.

The target of the flattering behavior can be most anything. It could be the manager's own performance, clothes, interests, avocations, and family members. The subordinate can flatter just by taking an excessive, yet insincere interest in the manager. For example, the subordinate may encourage the manager to talk about personal concerns when, in fact, the subordinate has no interest. Other enhancement can reach the extent whereby nearly everything the manager does or is becomes shrouded in glory.

Of course, the subordinate's goal is to positively influence the manager's perception of the subordinate, i.e., to be liked. Perhaps even more importantly, flattery can and does work. Most of us like to feel good about ourselves. We want to be praised. Moreover, studies have suggested that flattery favorably impresses the manager even when the manager suspects the subordinate's hidden agenda.

Take the hypothetical case of Jim. Jim goes out of his way to find reasons to praise his manager Neal. He favorably compliments Neal's clothes, wears similar apparel, and mimics Neal's pet phrases. Jim acts intensely interested in nearly every comment uttered by Neal. Jim even goes as far as publicly commending Neal in front of Neal's own manager Linda. A particularly sneaky other enhancement strategy is when Jim says good things about Neal to Linda. No doubt Linda will mention Jim's favorable comments to Neal, much to Jim's advantage.

When former General Motors Corporation Chairman Roger Smith was elected as chair of the Business Council, a corporate leaders organization, General Motors President Robert Stempel sent Smith a congratulatory telegram stating, in part:

"Your election ... is a source of great

pride ... We see it as great recognition

by your peers, not only of your

leadership, but as an expression of

the American business

community's confidence in the continued

leadership of our corporation.

... For you to be so honored is ... a distinction

equivalent.. being elected

successively majority leader of the

Senate and speaker [sic] of the

House ..." Wall Street Journal (October

17, 1988).

Smith was expected to retire from General Motors in the summer of 1990. Stempel was widely seen as Smith's successor. Stempel got the job.

Opinion Conformity

Imitation is the highest form of flattery-Oscar Wilde

A second ingratiation strategy is opinion conformity. Simply put, the strategy is to agree with the manager on nearly everything including work and non-work related issues. This strategy is effective because as with most people, managers are attracted to those who agree with them. The subordinate's supporting opinions confirm the manager's own views and boosts self-confidence. Opinion conformity is seen when the "yes man" subordinate eagerly nods his/her head and warmly smiles at the manager's every comment or suggestion. Likewise, opinion conformity is apparent when a subordinate shares a manager's enthusiasm for an idea, when in actuality the subordinate does not support it. Opinion conformity also is illustrated when subordinates readily emit belly laughs at the manager's humor attempts--however lame or insulting. Opinion conformity can be hidden in the cohesive cloak of work teams where a given subordinate's disagreement may be interpreted as "not being a team player." Finally, a subtle form of opinion conformity is when a subordinate intentionally disagrees with the manager on relatively unimportant issues, only to gracefully yield to the manager's opinions at a later time. As a consequence, the manager feels good about his/her persuasive skills.

Imagine the case of Dotty. Dotty would not even think of questioning her manager Ann's decisions. If it's good enough for Ann, it's good enough for Dotty. In fact, when Ann questions her own thinking, all she has to do is ask Dotty and presto! her views are confirmed. Yet, Dotty's opinion conformity does not merely end with job related issues. Dotty eagerly agrees with Ann's views on everyday current events, sports figures, and political candidates.

Favor Doing

Favor doing is still another ingratiation strategy. With favor doing, the subordinate performs little and perhaps not so little "apple polishing" and "bootlicking" favors. The assistance may be with work and non-work related tasks. As always, the goal is to gain the manager's affection. Furthermore, favor doing capitalizes on the reciprocity norm which states that receiving a favor creates an obligation to repay the favor. Favor doing is effective because like most people, managers will respond positively when a subordinate does something nice for them. For example, favor doing occurs when a subordinate enthusiastically runs errands, offers to take meeting minutes, photocopies materials that the manager needs immediately, and presents gifts upon return from vacation. Similarly, the subordinate may cheerfully seize the opportunity to purchase the Girl Scout cookies available from the manager's daughter (all the time, of course, mentioning how cute and bright the daughter is). Another favor doing tactic is to volunteer to help the manager buy a new car or find a reputable day care center. In exchange, the manager will often feel required to return the favor, perhaps to the advantage of the subordinate's career.

Self-Presentation

Praise yourself daringly; something always sticks - Francis Bacon

Finally, self-presentation involves acting in a way or fabricating an image that is thought to be desired by the target manager. The idea is to cultivate the relationship such that the manager perceives the subordinate as the perfect employee. The subordinate identifies what type of employee characteristics the manager (organization) finds desirable and then presents him/herself as that kind of robotic subordinate. The self-aggrandizement goes beyond being a solid employee and may even reach the scale of greatly exaggerated, unfounded claims. Here, we are referring to those subordinates who talk a good story, but fail to back up their assertions with bottomline performance. Conversely, even false modesty and self-deprecation may work with some managers because they perceive the acknowledgement of a weakness as a union of trust.

For example, subordinates who toil in the office on weekends, arrive for work early, linger afterwards, and let everyone know it, are behaving in a manner believed to be preferred by the manager. To be sure, these may be highly desirable subordinate characteristics. However, what separates peak performing subordinates from the ingratiators emerges when the latter's puffy, self-promoting claims lack substance or the monster hour work weeks yield few tangible results.

Take the theoretical case of Shirley, referred to by her peers as the corporate robot. Shirley wears the "right" clothes, faithfully preaches the company gospel, and overly cheerfully attends company functions. Shirley is one of the better sales people going--and makes sure her manager and coworkers know it. However, Shirley's overdone, self-promoting hyperbole goes far beyond her actual level of performance and crosses over into the arena of groundless bragging.