Business

Bossology: The Eight Techniques You Need To Manage Your Boss

Research within companies consistently reveals that most employees resign or move on due to a poor relationship with their immediate supervisor. In other words, people don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses. Most new managers and supervisors take office because they have demonstrated technical expertise in their industry or field. They rarely start their management careers with the experience, training, and support they need to effectively manage others.

I’m certainly not the only one working for some memorable bosses throughout my career. In fact, it was quite cathartic to describe them all in writing:

  • The boss who bit me on the neck hard enough to draw blood
  • The boss who drove me home from work going 90 mph down the freeway in his corvette
  • The boss who stood up and heatedly contradicted me (wrongly) during a training session on company policy I was leading for 40 supervisors
  • The boss who breastfed her baby while taking my performance appraisal
  • The boss who always took his wife’s calls during meetings while I listened
  • The boss who had another employee secretly call my clients to find out anything she could use to fire me (couldn’t find anything)
  • The boss who had the legs on the guest chairs in his office cut off several inches, allowing him to outperform anyone sitting before him.
  • Here are some strategies on how to handle your boss well, handle that all-important relationship, and keep your job (or at least land on your feet at the next job):

    1. Know your boss’s job preferences and expectations.

    Do you like weekly meetings? Written reports? Email or face-to-face meetings? Discover and respect their preferences.

    2. Regularly express your intention to help your boss be successful.

    Find hundreds of different ways to say, “If you are successful, I am successful.”

    3. Tell your boss how you prefer to be handled.

    Try using phrases like “I work better if …” or “It really works for me when you …”.

    4. Ask your boss for advice on organization policy.

    Before that big meeting with your boss’s colleague, ask him for advice on landmines or hidden agendas.

    5. Set limits and stick to them.

    Be clear about what you will and will not do. For example, I told the boss who took the phone calls that I knew he wanted me to be productive and that I could use those ten minutes to do the work for him. When I would take a phone call, I would politely get up, leave the meeting, and go back to work. In no time, he broke the habit (at least when he met with me).

    6. Keep your commitments to your boss and others.

    No matter how annoying your boss may be, their follow-through and trustworthiness will serve to reinforce your reputation in the organization.

    7. Never make your boss look bad in front of your colleagues.

    Although it can be difficult to keep your mouth shut, avoid the temptation to contradict yourself in front of others, especially colleagues at your level in the organization (at least if you want to keep your job a little longer). After hearing your boss yell, if one of your colleagues asks you directly, “What do you think?” You may need to be demure with a humble: “I’d like to discuss this with my boss, so I’m sure I have the facts right.” Helping your boss save face is a useful political skill.

    8. Don’t gossip with your boss about other employees.

    Even if your boss wants to gossip you about others on your team, don’t play the game. A surprised and evasive “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that from her” is enough. I’ve also used an “Oh dear, I think I could have said / done the same thing at the same time.”

    What I’m suggesting is that you focus on making your working relationship with your boss pay off. Someone promoted him to his position of boss. Whether it’s because they’re highly skilled, married in the corporate family, or because they’re in the right place at the right time, the bottom line is that you are not the boss, they are. After all, you can always go into business for yourself once you’ve gained the experience you need. It worked for me.

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