Building a good relationship with your boss is important to your career because he or she plays a pivotal role in your success and your happiness at work. While managing your boss may sound counterintuitive, it will be one of your greatest resources as you grow in your career.
When the subject of managing up surfaces in conversations you often hear a variety of comments, most of them with a slant towards negativity in describing those who manage up well as being insincere or a “brown noser” in searching for a promotion. Truth be told, colleagues who recognize early on the need for building a good boss relationship understand that it’s beneficial for both parties involved.
What makes managing up difficult for some and easy for others? It has to do with how you perceive your role in helping make your boss successful. Mistakes in managing up occur when you try to guess at what’s expected from you rather than having a conversation to clarify your role.
Managing up also takes effort and if you look at your career path as a race to the top you are liable to miss the most important aspect of a good boss relationship: trust. Trust takes time and it starts with you in establishing what your boss believes is important.
Even if you missed the mark in managing your boss early on, it’s not too late to start implementing some new habits beginning with the communication style your boss prefers. For example, some bosses like weekly reports through emails, others like face-to-face reporting.
Those that make managing up look easy share a common desire to understand their boss’s goals and work style. Your job in managing your boss is to understand their preference in getting things accomplished.
If you find yourself wanting to build a stronger boss relationship start by developing an appreciation of what makes them successful, focus on their strengths and not so much their areas of weakness.
It’s easy to fall into a pattern of pointing out your boss’s shortcomings however the energy you spend complaining doesn’t help you develop a relationship; instead it keeps you focused in the wrong areas.
Consider spending more time on observing and studying your boss’s strengths. They became a boss for a reason even if you default their position to timing rather than skills. Nonetheless, you can learn from them. Learn how to build on their strengths in getting tasks accomplished.
Here are some good managing up habits to keep; make it a habit to clarify expectations and communicate results as well as keep your boss informed, be ready to jump in when needed, maintain a positive attitude, be quick to listen and slow to judge.
Over time, you’ll gain your boss’s trust and build an interdependent relationship where both of you benefit. Managing up can be interpreted as stepping up and creating a worthwhile investment in your career, over the long-haul, it will help you reach your goals.
What makes managing up challenging for you?
