I guess my point is that when a coach teaches you how to get a promotion, the implicit assumption is that your hierarchy is following the same book as they are.

I guess my point is that when a coach teaches you how to get a promotion, the implicit assumption is that your hierarchy is following the same book as they are. And the very fact that one needs to learn how to behave to get a promotion kind of proves my point. In a perfect world, you wouldn't have to go convince someone that you have value. And in a world where you have to do that convincing... those who are better at convincing get more promotions. Because you are better at convincing does not mean you bring more value, though. Again it's a hard problem, but what matters to me is that people understand that it is a hard problem and there is no silver bullet.