Does climbing the corporate ladder require both alpha or beta qualities?

[Dash of Englishness]

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I'm under the impression that it doesn't require a lot of being brave and standing by your principles. You just be alpha to the person that it comes naturally for you to be alpha towards. You boss one person around, and for another person you do exactly what they say. Okay it might require a lot of hard work, which could be considered alpha. But ultimately it's more about creating a good impression to the people you'll need to promote you. Now it's acceptable to be assertive to those above you on certain occasions, but more often than not, climbing such a ladder is all about doing all that overtime, and turning a blind eye to employment law.

At some point we may come across a manager who says "I can be difficult to work with, but if you work hard and never mess up I'll be like the nicest guy you ever knew". We all know that guy's an asshole. But if you're trying to climb the corporate ladder, then you won't mind feeling like you're his bitch if it means you get no grief from him. As for the rest of us, we say "why should I have to sacrifice my principles to comply with a bully's unfair demands?".