Practical Tips to Manage your Boss | Knowing your Boss
I've met a few people in my time who were enthusiastic about hard work. And it was just my luck that all of them happened to be men I was working for at the time. ~Bill Gold
Don't you know that there is such a thing as managing your bosses, superiors, leaders, supervisors, managers or however you want to call them?Bosses are the people who have been given the authority to manage our jobs, a huge portion of the business process, and us. And they are also responsible for our work performance and output.
Somehow, these people tend to take a great deal of our time, and sometimes crouching even into our own personal affairs.
They can be frustrating, exasperating, discouraging, and may be viewed as tyrants. Unless you own your business, you cannot do away with them.
Take this: you can choose which organization or company to work for, but you cannot choose your boss.
Having said that, it means you are left only with two choices. Either you leave your organization and find a better (hopefully) boss or you manage your boss or bosses. Here are 2 practical tips on how to manage your boss: (1) Know your boss and Do things his/her way.
How well do you know your boss?
How does he manage? Is he an ISTJ? Is he task or goal oriented? Is he a directive or non-directive leader? Is he a problem solver or a decision maker? What does he require from you? What are his expectations as far as job performances are concerned? How can you meet them? What are his weaknesses? Can you match them with your strengths? What are his strengths? Can you compliment them with yours?
I can actually go all day asking you with similar or related questions, and most of you will probably flank. Why? Most of us never bothers to really get to know the people we are working for. It is understandable that more often, our bosses intimidate us.
We easily complain and whine how harsh our manager or supervisor is, but we never even bother to ask why he is behaving that way.
There are no perfect Bosses
In my first three years working after college, I managed to work with 10 different bosses in 4 organizations. Yeah. I was a grasshopper. I was always on the look for a perfect organization with a perfect boss. Until somebody told me that if ever I stumbled on a perfect organization was employed there, it won't be perfect anymore. I ask, why? He said, because I joined it!
Funny but true.
I stopped looking for a perfect boss when I realized that the problem was actually in me, in my attitude. And this became more evident when I began managing a huge department, and managing my own business.
Most Bosses are simply misunderstood
I remember when I was still on the top my game, that is managing 3 departments at given time ( 2 are on concurring and temporary capacity), I ask one of my senior supervisors to draft project and budget proposal that I will be presenting on the board meeting for approval. This project concerns particularly her section, and of which has a lot of bearing on my department's goals attainment. So, I was ruthless on how I reviewed the proposal. So much so that I asked her to revised the proposal seven times. Yeah, I know, I am quite mean there. On the eight, she started complaining, and ask me why not I do it myself.
You can readily agree with her, I bet. But she missed the point. It was her section, and under my department's roof. If I do the report in her behalf, she loses ownership. And it will reflect poor management and leadership on my part.
A colleague told me that to understand your boss better, you just need to strictly adhere to these 2 cardinal rules:
Rule No. 1 : The BOSS is always RIGHT!
Rule No. 2: If you think that the BOSS is WRONG, refer to Rule No. 1.
Well, he was joking of course. But if you have taken that seriously, then you forfeit yourself of any freedom to express your opinion or even show your creativity at work. That is likening your boss into a an immortal Viking Lord. But what those two rules actually tell me is, get into your Boss' shoes so that you will understand him/her better.
Knowing your Boss is doable
You can really know your boss. It can be done. It takes only a little of your time, efforts, and being sensitive on how he deals with you and other issues at work. Remember and learn from those experiences and you will do well. After all, he understands you for he tries to know his boss as well.
Now, let that sink first.
So, how well do you know your boss?
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Read Part 2 here.
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10 Comments so far:
Strangely enough, years ago when I was working temp jobs, I was sent out to a place where I was "warned" about the guy in charge of the department. Well I don't know what the problem was, we got along just fine. If you are professional and competent and straightfoward in your dealings with others - no matter what rung of the ladder they are on - things can and will run smoothly. The man I speak of was "known" to have a hard to get along with reputation. Maybe for some, but since he reminded me so much of my father, just a no-nonsense approach to business which I enjoy, we became good friends (and I started a 3-year stint as an employee after naming my own price).
Oimdiane (entrecard)
Diane Scott
I think you have made an excellent point. If you behave in a professional manner and do not look at you boss as the enemy who steals your time any 'normal' boss will give you the respect that you give.
To know your boss is very important since you will be able to perform according to the expectations. Many individuals look at all other options as the source for the problems but never ask if it is them who are the source that causes the problems.
Nice Effort,
keep it up
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It is important to know your boss well.
Some prefer you to come on time, some prefer that you can come anytime as long as you're productive, etc
It's also good to know his personality, as your post said.
Bosses aren't the enemy. Bosses pretending to be friendly ARE. And an asshole is an asshole is an asshole. Except maybe if you're working for Google, then maybe we can cut it back to just A-hole (G-hole?).
So, Ronnie, how many teammates do you get to bully?
Kidding! ;>
I agree to disagree, but it could have some value to test on.
A smart boss is always going to give you 10 things to do and know that in reality you are only going to get about 7 done. Just do those 7 as well as you can and don't fret the small stuff. That's the start of a good relationship.
I would say from experience a good "boss", is a good leader. I consider it an insult to be called the boss. I try to lead the team, and sometimes have to make the tough decisions, that is the leader's job. I try to push the glory down to the team members. We work together to get the job done, but they get the glory.
@ xio
absolutely right!
lemme see...hmmm -all of them.
Nah! Never bullied anybody to get things done, I make them like what I want them to do.
@ blogzilla
I guess, i need some more clarifications there.
@ bruce
great insight and advise there bruce.
@ mack
True. However, more often we are caught in a situation that we have to work for somebody who is far from the ideal. How do we adjust?
-we manage him / her (our boss) and subdue our ideals and emotions in favor of achieving corporate goals.
This is a great point. Employees must also be given the opportunity to discuss this stuff with their bosses. i.e. performance reviews and even (gulp) boss reviews.
John
constructonomics.blogspot.com