It depends on where you are, the nature of your work, whether you are a man or a woman, your age, whether you have a contract or you are an employee-at-will, whether you are an over- or an under-achiever, your number of connections inside the organization, how critical your skills are to the mission, whether you are in the private sector, the public sector, or in an educational environment, how many personal secrets you know about your immediate supervisor, or how many he or she knows about you.

Some employees want desperately to move up the chain-of-command to a higher paying position, and they do not want to be with or near someone who outshines them. They will often send poison notes anonymously to those above you to smear your good name and to help get you fired. Or they will tell unverifiable secrets via the rumor mill about you to damage your reputation. You must be prepared for it before you sign a contract to work there.

All of this comes to you courtesy of the School of Hard Knocks, not the Harvard Business School. Life can be a bitch. Your best defence against all the above is a business contract that spells out your pay, your promotion criteria, your review schedule, the one and only person to whom you are responsible, and the duration of your contract. Be prepared to show your potential employer that you are the “real deal,” and he or she can count on you to save the day when needed. Make certain they understand that you live and work because you are honest and trustworthy, and anyone who cannot handle those virtues is the problem.