Managing the boss
This is a very difficult but also very important topic for career people who are employed by a company or someone else! If you cannot manage your boss, you have no future in your current employment! If you are to survive in your job, the minimum that you can do is to manage your relationship with your boss. Therefore, it is important to have a framework that you can use to manage your boss!
Your boss is very powerfull, at least in as far as your connection with your employer or as far as your employment is concerned. This is a very important point to understand and embrace all the time when you are employed. No matter your particular circumstances, your Boss is the boss and has a big bearing on your life and your future. From your angle, you have to do your best to manage your relationship with the boss. Leave the rest to God and chance.
Of course, you may not always be successful at managing the boss, but do your part. Indeed, some bosses are impossible to manage and in some cases, some bosses may just hate you – you can only do your part. We are talking of a situation where no matter what you do, no matter what changes you make, even after talking to your boss, he or she does not want you!
The first important aspect of managing your boss is to understand him or her well. Study what are the main drivers of the life and career of your boss. Get time to also understand his or her biggest fears and interests. The first step you need to take to understand the boss is to speak to a few of the people that have worked with him or her before. Ask them direct questions like what does he or she like? What does he or she not like? How does he or she get impressed or upset? How does he or she do the work and his or her expectations from people in his team.
When you do the research, you need to write down the main points that describe your boss before you even start working for him or her. Once you know the type of person the boss is, including the leadership style used by the boss, you can now develop your plan of how you will work with the boss. You cannot maintain working with your new boss the same way you worked with the previous boss. It also helps to ask the boss on first day how he or she would like to work with you and take notes. Please note that speaking to the boss directly is not complete. He or she cannot tell you a complete story of himself of herself. Everyone has sides that he or she doesn’t know of himself or herself. Additionally, the boss is unlikely to tell you the negative aspects which other people that have worked with him or her can reveal to you and they can be the game changers in most cases.
Once you develop your plan based on the inputs that you get from the boss and his previous subordinates, you have completed the first step towards managing your boss. Share your plan with one or two of the people that have worked with the boss before for them to validate before you start implementing the plan. But remember, you can only do your part. In some cases, the boss may not just like you and there is very little you can do. If relationship is beyond repair, seriously consider moving out of his or her space before he or she can damage or even kill your career.
Good luck as you work on your plan to manage the relationship with your boss. With a good plan that is informed by insights from your boss’s previous subordinates and some inputs from the boss himself or herself, you are on the path to a successful relationship with the boss. If it fails, you will have tried and it is time to seek another boss! Good luck!
