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152 • The 100 Greatest Ideas for Building the Business of Your Dreams

this could threaten your comfortable position. This is unavoidable. Look after them
well and only let them go for a good promotion so that the next person in will think
of their next progress being outside the division rather than toppling you.

Idea 99 - Take on extraneous tasks

Empire builders need a very high profile with senior managers. A key way to achiev-
ing this is to volunteer for tasks that need to be done but which are not strictly
within your ambit. Obviously avoid the poisoned chalices that lurk in every board
minute, but look for opportunities to make a high-profile contribution to the spon-
sorship programme, or the new technology project or whatever.

Don't just look for them - invent them. Research some changes that are occur-
ring in your marketplace and put up a paper identifying the challenge and suggest-
ing how to take the matter forward, and who should do the taking (probably you).
Your objective is to be as knowledgeable about the rest of the company as you are of
your own bit. Fame and stardom should follow.

Idea 100- Read a book about it

These two ideas and 98 others are more fully discussed in The 100 Greatest Ideas for
Building Your Career, Langdon, Capstone and WHSmith, 2000.