When I was working at Leo Burnett as an AAE, I thought quite highly of myself. There I was, making $16,000 per year, working on the prestigious Procter & Gamble business. I had my very own cubicle, my very own key to come in and out of the office (no access cards back then), and my own extension (no direct lines back then). I even had use of the three IBM PCs that were available to the Client Service department. I thought I had it made. I also thought I knew everything.

It got to the point that I thought I knew more than my boss, the Account Supervisor on the business. I ran my projects well, with not a ton of supervision, and usually with no issues. I even had some minor client contact and did not embarrass myself or the agency. I thought that I was indispensable. And that’s when it started.

I began to keep my boss just a little less informed than normal, and give her information just a little later than before. I started sharing less, less often, and later. I was the keeper of the information. I had the knowledge. She didn’t. Knowledge is power, they say, so I was powerful. I continued like that for a while, almost walking on air intoxicated by my perception of power. I was like the squirrel stashing away nuts for the winter, storing away information so that I could sound smart or knowledgeable (more up to speed or up to date than my boss, even) if anyone asked anything.

Hoarding makes your cheeks floppy

Then it happened. We had a problem. A big problem. A big client problem. It was traced back to part of my work, to things that I managed. Things that I had been managing myself without sharing as much with my supervisor. All of a sudden, all eyes were upon me. Lots of questions were asked “how could this happen?” was a popular one), all the way up to the Director of Client Services. I was freaked out and afraid I’d lose my job (which made sense considering that my not sharing information had kept the agency in the dark about something that seemed insignificant to me then but to the trained eye of my managers would have meant something).

In the end, no one was fired and things were cleared up. My Account Supervisor heroically covered for me and taught me a huge lesson in the process. From then on, I was the most prolific sharer of information out there. I learned that having the information itself does not really give any power. It’s knowing what to do with it that does. It’s not about having the information and keeping it to yourself (where’s the power in that?). It’s about the power of sharing it and letting those around you know that you have it (that’s power).

I learned that the more I shared with my Account Supervisor, the more she saw how I was understanding things, managing things, and being proactive. That helped her assess my performance and it allowed me to grow. It also made my boss look good. And there I learned that making my boss look good makes me look good. It all trickles down.

Information about the client business, about a project’s status, about what someone said in a creative presentation related to our work, all wants to be free. Sharing it often with your supervisors lets them stay abreast of what’s going on (which is part of your job) and helps them help you do yours (which is part of their job).

Keep your boss informed of things so that he or she is not surprised (in any business, surprises are not exactly welcome) by any development. Keep your team abreast of what’s going on so that everyone benefits from your information and you benefit from theirs. And don’t hoard. It makes your cheeks floppy.