[hchdifnfbgbf]

If that’s all you see, you probably need to level up your soft skills.

Certainly the things you’re talking about are real, and particularly severe in some environments, but there’s a lot of room to improve your influence without engaging in any of that.

[rkomorn]

> If that’s all you see, you probably need to level up your soft skills.

Not OP but I honestly don't see how this comment/tone is warranted in response to what they wrote.

[dfjfklei]

You have yet to meet someone at a company you work for you who does one or more of the things I listed above to successfully advance their career?

[hchdifnfbgbf]

Many do. More common the further up the ladder you get. But I’ve been able to gain enough influence to affect most of the things I care about without engaging in that, unless you consider being friendly and supportive (something that did not come remotely naturally to me) to be brown-nosing.

If you want to significantly influence a lot of high-level strategic decision-making at very large companies, then you do probably need to engage in nasty things like that. But most of us don’t work at that scope.

[rkomorn]

I don't think that's their point.

I think their point is that you can have influence without doing these things.