The excellent Dr Placebo has recently published a post on Arse Kissing, naturally it's a somewhat negative piece.
My own views on brown-nosing aren't straightforward, obviously it's not socially acceptable and can lead to some serious unpleasantness. But when you think about it, we all do it, at least a little.
I challenge anyone to tell their boss exactly what they think of them or their ideas. Nobody does. Concsiously or otherwise, people talk to everyone else with the aim of ultimately benefiting themselves. In medicine it would be unheard of for a student to openly disagree with a consultant; in every operation it's almost pro forma to complement the surgeon on their skill. Is this brown nosing?
2 comments:
Yes, that's brown-nosing. And it's not acceptable or normal behaviour.
Our priority is the patient, not the consultant's ego. Complimenting those who deserve it is acceptable. Brown-nosing is unacceptable on so many levels.
But then, I'm a naive fool. And if I'd brown-nosed I'd have had a lot more secure future in the profession.
I guess it all depends on how low you're willing to stoop to benefit yourself. Many medics stoop lower than low. Personally, I think reality will come back and bite these arse-lickers on the nose. They may well get a leg-up while they're junior, but when they run out of people to arse-lick, they'll have to flail around on their skimpy achievements.
Being excellent is the way to get to the top, not being a brown-nosing twat. Put it this way - when you're a consultant, will you want whiny brown-nosers working for you, or independent high-achievers? I know which one I'd choose, and it ain't the brown-nosers.
I see your point, and it's a good one.
But it's a brave person who would stand in front of their consultant and tell them that they have poor teamwork / poor management / poor clin skills or that you just don't like them.
You may be an exception, but I will not go out of my way to antagonise those who can help me.
(I read this and it sounds angry, honestly, it's not)
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