Newspaper Profile of the Author
By Sara Grano, Staff Writer Lincoln Times-News
Want to impress you boss without sucking up? Rodney Robbins of Lincolnton has created a booklet of 52 ways to do just that.
"I think it's good for high school graduates, but especially college graduates," said Robbins, whose day job is as a quality and safety manager. "It's also for people who have a sense of humor."
The booklet is full of common sense.
"Show up for work every day. Never steel things. Learn to accept criticism without crying, back stabbing or blowing a fuse," Robbins said.
And while some of the advice may seem elementray, there are people out there who aren't following it.
"I think part of it is that they don't want to be accused of sucking up, and some people really don't want to be promoted," Robbins said, "They don't want any more responsibility."
Then there are the people who do want more responsibility, they just don't know what to do.
"What's really sad is the people who want to get ahead and don't do these things, and I really hope it's because they don't know," Robbins said.
The booklet, which is available for $5.50 including postage (see BUY NOW button in left side-bar) and includes cartoons featuring dragons, dinosaurs and some very cranky employees along with its 52 tips.
Cartoons or not, however, one of the major points of the book is maturity. Robbins chastises employees who are unable to admit their mistakes.
"Even if it's all their fault, suddenly it's everybody else's fault except their's," he said. "We've all done that when we were kids, and most of us grow out of it, but some of us never do."
He also encourages employees, no matter how young they are, to dress professionally, even if it's not in style.
"They're still dealing with the Gen X people as bosses, and they're still dealing with Baby Boomers as bosses," Robbins said. That means no ripped jeans at a company banquet.
"What they're doing when they dress like that is saying 'Don't promote me,'" Robbins said. "Even on this important day, for this important event, I won't change anything I do."
But pleasing the company isn't always the best thing to do. Integrity still matters, and it's okay to disagree with the boss.
"If you know what kind of person you are, and you know what's right and wrong, you can say, 'I think that's not right,'" Robbins said. "Which actually shows you aren't trying to suck up, you're just trying to do what's right for the company."
One final word of advice?
"I think one of the main things people mess up a lot is either they work too hard and don't tell the boss what they're doing--so the boss doesn't know, or they tell the boss everything, and they don't work very hard at all," Robbins said.
For more tidbits visit Rodneys52Ways.com. The booklets are $5.50 each.
