Keating's method of climbing the corporate ladder shows much about his character. A minor draftsman at the outset of his employment, his focus is not to improve his skills and rise through merit, but to exploit the weaknesses of his fellow employees and thereby remove them from his path. He discovers that Tim Davis is Francon's chief draftsman, and that Davis is engaged to be married. Keating ingratiates himself with Davis, seeking the more experienced man's trust. When Davis, who is apartment-hunting and planning his wedding, must be absent from work, Keating volunteers his assistance. He begins to do Davis' work when the older man must be away from the office. Over time, this becomes a permanent arrangement. Eventually, Francon notices that Keating is doing Davis' work and fires Davis, hiring Keating in his place. This was Keating's intention all along.
Claude Stengel is Francon's chief designer, doing all of the firm's creative work and getting none of the credit. His position is Keating's next step on the ladder. But Stengel is more perceptive than Davis and recognizes Keating's manipulative methods, rebuffing Keating's attempts at friendship. Stengel is ready to go out on his own and start his own firm; he just needs someone to give him his first commission. Keating understands the situation. By now, he has proven to be an apt pupil of Francon, charming prospective clients with suave urbanity. Francon puts him in charge of a potential account, expecting that Keating will deliver it to the firm. Instead, Keating surreptitiously convinces the client to hire Stengel. When Stengel takes the commission and departs, Francon is outraged at the perceived betrayal by Stengel, but does not suspect Keating, who slips into Stengel's vacated post.
At this point, Keating has created a problem for himself. Up until now his work has been limited to drafting — a sophisticated form of copying — of which he is eminently capable. But now he must design, producing creative work. At this, he is a failure. But Keating knows someone who is a superb designer. He brings the specifications for his first building to Roark, who helped him similarly with his college projects. Roark solves the building's structural problems and creates its plan. This arrangement establishes a pattern in the professional relationship of the two men: Roark often assists Keating with problems of design. Through Roark's help, Keating wins the Cosmo-Slotnick competition, a contest to design the "world's most beautiful building." At the end of Part One, though barely thirty, Keating is famous and a partner in the country's most prestigious firm.
