They don’t even need to be the suit, they just need to work with the suit.

My boss is the director of our department, his boss is the VP of the department, and his boss is the CEO. My VP is pretty cool, but to get anything done, I need to convince the director in terms that make him look good to the VP, and also make the VP look good to the CEO. My boss is good at coming up with jargon, but sometimes I need to plant the seeds of that jargon to get things rolling.

If my VP or director get replaced, I’ll probably leave. I know what works on them, and I honestly don’t have the energy to learn a whole new way of buttering someone up.