Gears For Careers

Keep it R.E.A.L with your boss

Your boss has a responsibility to help you be productive; but this is a partnership that requires you to be proactive in ensuring an open, honest and mutually beneficial process that facilitates this. Get R.E.A.L by demonstrating:

Responsibility:

Don’t just do tasks; make proper choices. Being responsible includes having a strong work ethic and keeping a positive attitude when the going gets tough and rough. If you work with the same boss for more than a year, ensure that you demonstrate increasing capability to strengthen their confidence in you.

Engagement:

Keep a conversation going with your manager. Know what your boss’s full scope of work is so that you keep your bit in perspective. Don’t be so attached to the way you like to do things that you fail to adapt to a way that works for both your manager and you. Engaging with your manager regularly helps you identify what’s changing. It also helps you to be aware of issues that are not urgent or critically important at that time.

Accountability:

Personal accountability should be paramount. Know the performance metrics your boss pays attention to. Don’t do anything that will let them or indeed others question your integrity. Don’t complain without making effort to improve things. Highlight potential problems quickly and indicate what you are going to do about it. Don’t put problems on the boss’ shoulders, if you need help be specific about what you need.

Leadership:

Show you can operate different situations. Don’t get stuck in ‘‘how great your previous boss was’’ and hope your new boss becomes like them. Every boss is different and must deal with their own challenges in their own way. Show that in time of trouble you can fix things and in stable times you can fly higher and sail further. Let the mention of your name bring positive attributes to mind.

Now take action:

What can you do to improve how you work with your boss?

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