How do you prevent managements' egos from influencing or hindering your career?

Answer 1

You can't! Sadly. The world of business is not so clean cut as you learn in school and to be successful it turns out that you need a lot more than a trade. You need the soft skills and behavioral competancies to survive and thrive in the business environment. And, sadly, the business environment is filled with people and those people have egos, tempers, preconveived notions, prejudices, personality disorders, sexual dysfunction - you name it!

Managing your career in SPITE of the fact that it takes place amongst all these crazy people is where you need to be.

Answer 2

When confronted with an insurmountable obstacle, what you do is turn the tables so that what was formerly an obstacle is now an asset. So, you play on the very egos of the person or persons that you feel are hindering you. I don't mean simply "sucking up" to the boss. I'm talking more of a manipulation. Give him/her the credit for something good that you were responsbile for. Let him "overhear" you complimenting him on something. (When in fact you are playing a role and knowing he's listening.) There are many ways to do this; be creative. The advantages are twofold: you have fun and are no longer frustrated. And two: it turns a former hindrance into an asset.

Answer 3

If you have the slightest bit of intelligence, then you don’t. Sadly, studies have been conducted that indicate the more intelligent a person is, the less likely they are to succeed in climbing that “corporate ladder”.

The reasons for this can be indicated by what you just said; you’re able to detect their egos. People who go through the motions and don’t care – the perfect corporate drone – are more likely to get promoted and acknowledged than a person who has self-awareness and doesn’t fall for the typical smokescreens management hides behind. These people pose a threat to a manager and are more likely to get overlooked, ignored and squashed by management.

You can either lose a few IQ points to be like the rest of the corporate poster-boys, or you can consider opening up your own business.