Medhaj News: A big thank you to all readers for sparing their valuable time and also to Medhajnews for giving me a platform
It's always a great pleasure to inspire and help people be successful in life!
Next subject that I would share learning on is: "Art and Science of Boss Management".
Many people approach me with one question, how do I impress my boss? Some say my boss is too demanding. Others say that my boss doesn't understand me? The list goes on.....
Let's try these simple suggestions:
1. Understand your boss very well, it is ‘Must Have’
All bosses have few likes and you would have experienced strong dislikes. It is mission critical for you to understand them extremely well. You will get a better clarity as you read further.
One boss I had was a stickler for cleanliness in everything: papers, presentations, attire, shoes, laptop and the workstation. Another one, was a fan of Simple Things: no jargons, simple power point slides. And then there was another one, who was a perfectionist to the core: he used to go up to last cell of details in the excel file, that v-lookup, formatting of each cell and even shades! He used to watch out for that last sweet quote on the slide which was to impress the client--and ensure us a big contract, pun intended!
Similarly, one of my boss’ used to dislike -to the point of abhorring- people with low energy levels, lethargic in work, casual in attitude, verbose and with total lack of result orientation.
Another example is that of a CFO who used to dislike HR related conversations, any topic remotely related to people development, performance management, organisation behaviour were a deal breaker for him.
He simply wanted to know “Kitney Partha, Kitnee Ugai”. Partha is Cost and Ugai is sale in that company.
2. Align with your boss, earlier the better
Now, you know your boss well. Great news, you have achieved your first milestone.
You need to align your working style with your boss’s style. Sounds odd?
What about value addition, about diversity of thoughts and learning from past actions? What about empowerment? At the end of the day, everyone should be free to adopt their style, isn't it?
Please hold on your horses, we will get there slowly, but surely!
First let Alignment happen, rest of it will be a cake walk.
Your boss is too busy with multiple tasks, meetings, pressures and building his own equations with other stakeholders. The least he will expect is a non aligned team member who doesn't understand him, and tries to have his own way of doing things (My Way or the Highway types). In this process you end up wasting lot of productive time and energy on non value adding activities.
Let's remember that the customer is not paying for your equations or understandings with your boss. So looking at the big picture-, you and your boss need to sort it out.
There was a gentleman from a leading B school. He was always at loggerheads with his boss. He used to openly challenge him in many meetings. Undoubtedly, he was more competent than his boss, technically more sound, better with people management, stronger leadership skills, astute in finance, and impressive in sales pitches. But his misalignments were creating lot of stress in the system. End result being that his boss kept on "managing" him and the moment his assignment was over, he was offered a newer role. Bigger designation but bitter meat!
He didn't like that new role and he moved out of the organization.
Alignments reduce stress in the system. You will start having a great time at the same workplace, with same boss and same set of people. See how you would have turned around a loss-loss situation, into a win-win situation.
3. Make your boss, feel important.
All bosses are after all human beings. Can you please introduce me to a person who doesn't want to feel appreciated and important? Unless of course they are a saint? Very rarely!
Am I suggesting that you resort to flattering- no way!! Don't even try that, your bosses will see through that artificial effort. Instead, try genuinely. How do you try genuinely?
There are many ways, let your boss call the shots on critical aspects of your job:addressing important meetings and taking key decisions. Go with solutions not problems, give your options, share pros and cons of the options and let him decide.
This will also make him - Own your efforts, ally with you and he will be besides you through any possible crisis. He owns you and your job better, now!
I was working with a boss, whenever he would finish a topic he would end up with standard a statement, "Well Said". I got the hint. Next time, if he said something worth appreciating, I would say "Well Said".
Small things, but they take you a long way!
Another boss, Mr. X was hungry for public recognition. Once he poured his heart with me, “I am doing so many good things for people but nobody appreciates” he said. I got the message. Next time, when we won a large contract and our achievement was lauded, I used the opportunity to formally and publicly thank his leadership and attribute the success of the same to Mr X. I added that we could achieve fantastic success under his guidance and; we feel truly inspired under the leadership of Mr. X.
One more story, I was struggling to get business for more than a year. I was feeling a bit down, and then we got a business lead and converted it into a big deal – all the while- keeping boss regularly updated. It was my leadership and relationship management with client personnel (boss empowered me completely). After winning the contract, I met my boss and expressed my heartfelt gratitude for being around, during lows in my career; and he hugged and gave confidence that he will always be beside me, come what way. Though I left the organization on account of few personal challenges- our relationship of mentee and mentor still continues.
I come across one particular complaint a lot: Their bosses do not give credit to them. How many times have you tried giving credit to your bosses? Try doing it genuinely; it will surely work out for the majority of cases in short-term and almost all cases in long term.
End of the day, bosses are also humans, not super humans! And you can surely excel in managing them as well!
Last point, there are NO short cuts to hard work. True success is an optimum mix of relationship management, backed up by solid work!
All the very best in winning one more corporate battle!
Winning With Bosses!
By Alexander