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Gary’s first experiences with corporate politics came in his early corporate leadership positions. After earning a degree in International Management at Thunderbird University in Phoenix, Arizona, Dr. Ranker found employment with Hallmark cards. Gary was trained for a career in international management. He had traveled extensively to different parts of the world and had experience managing a multitude of different peoples from different backgrounds. His experience and consistent high performance resulted in a series of promotions which eventually placed him into highly politicized executive positions managing sales and marketing for Hallmark’s 10 worldwide companies. Overseeing worldwide operations required a great deal of responsibility and decision-making. Gary notes, however, that a good deal of his time was not entirely dedicated to these operational responsibilities.
“I found that a significant part of my time, I had to spend defending myself against sabotage and against other people’s agendas. What I experienced, particularly, was one guy who really wanted my job and he thought that he should have it.” “This particular coworker undermined me every single day that I was there, and really undermined me with a whole team of people, every time I left. I had to end up, fairly quickly, understanding what that’s all about, and mostly, I learned to be defensively effective. I just wanted to do my job and I loved my job, but this politicizing ended up taking a lot of my time.”
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