"Go beyond your job description" is strategy No. 4. "Look for trouble spots you can help fix, " like one Jeremy Hinton who "even brought a drill from home so he could replace the worn hinges on an office door instead of calling in a carpenter." Nice effort, Jeremy. Of course, the carpenter is now out of work, and his children are on welfare, and his home is foreclosed, and the entire family is living under a freeway overpass. But boy, those shiny new hinges sure look nice.
"Make a sacrifice" is Strategy No. 5. Translation: Volunteer to take a cut in pay. This assumes that your salary is large enough to be divided. You could also "forgo a bonus" if you got a bonus, which represents a real opportunity to show your loyalty. To have something to forgo in the future, demand a giganto bonus now.
The sixth and final strategy is the most problematical of all: "Don't be a Debbie Downer." "When talk turns toxic, change the subject and walk away," is the advice Rosato has to the people she calls "Negative Nellies." In other words, transform yourself into a positive, can-do person who likes everyone and never gossips or complains. You're also advised to "make an effort to associate with the people the boss respects most." Yuck!
I'm not saying it won't work, but I don't think people like us could ever pull it off. If we can't gossip and complain, and have to abandon the Negative Nellies to hang with the Positive Paulines, we'd rather be unemployed.
