Tales of intrigue, treachery, politics, lies, double crosses, and power struggles fill the history publications, much like they fill present day headlines. In the globe of the seventeenth century musketeer, life depended on who you could believe in. In the globe of the 21st century employee, one’s livelihood might.

I am not naïve to corporate politics, competition, or sabotage in the workplace. I’ve held my own in corporations exactly where silos, turf wars and power brokers delivered indigestion, sleepless nights, and distrusting cultures. But I nonetheless do not get it. When individuals are much more focused on what is occurring in the cube next to them than on achieving corporate goals, everybody loses. When corporate politics fill emails with combined direction stalling productivity, everybody loses. And when discretionary work and new ideas are swallowed in pits of bureaucracy, guess what? Everybody loses. The way I see it, if the business fails, we all fail.

So, I think the Three Musketeers acquired it right: &quotAll for one and one for all!” Every comprehended his fate as an individual was tied to their fate as a group. Trusting every other was unambiguous. One was in trouble, they all were in trouble. One required help, they all supplied help. One succeeded, they all succeeded. The fiction of Alexandre Dumas, set in the seventeenth century, appears a great prescription for the 21st century workplace.

I know it’s worked for me. Arriving at a new career, I discovered the boss who hired me was away, and no one expecting me. I discovered no workplace, no desk, and no info. The person I was hired to replace was in my career, and had no concept I was changing her. Every week acquired worse. Info and requests flowed like water via a clogged pipe. I was out of the loop on essential problems and viewed like the enemy. Turning to my boss for guidance was like stepping into a sink hole, as I discovered his credibility and the department’s missing.

I realized if I was to survive, I had to discover, win more than, and/or create a handful of individuals I could believe in. It took a difficult year, but the payoff lasted an entire career. Gradually the group of trusted colleagues grew. We never believed of ourselves as musketeers, but by our steps, we became them. Unspoken guidelines of ethics and integrity prevailed. We looked past individual interests. We shared ideas, collaborated on tasks, borrowed resources, and worked collectively effortlessly and enthusiastically. We needed the greatest for every other and the greatest for the business, every of us worrying about much more than our own five acres.

Unspoken commitments prevailed. If I was in trouble or asked for help, help was offered. I was called upon to stage up and offer help too. We all knew our musketeer roles required reciprocity. The bottom line was that helping every other be successful, aided every of us be successful. I do not know exactly where I’d be today with out the musketeer approach. My advice? Become a musketeer!

(c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Sign up to obtain Nan’s totally free biweekly eColumn at www.winningatworking.com. Nan Russell has spent more than 20 many years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Useful resource Advancement, Communication, Advertising and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford University and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently working on her first book, Successful at Working: ten Lessons Shared, Nan is a author, columnist, small business proprietor, and online teacher. Contact Nan at info@nanrussell.com.