How to Manage Your Boss and Your Career Effectively

Performing well is not enough

Your success at work, no doubt, is measured by how well you perform. Work is all about getting the right things done efficiently. However, you may be sidelined when it is time to pick the right staff to get promoted. Essentially you need to manage your boss in order to manage your career effectively and get promoted

The truth of managing your boss

It is not apple polishing. It is about getting along well with your boss to achieve the goals of the company.

How to manage your boss and yourself

·         Know your boss and yourself: The most important thing is to understand the strengths, weaknesses, working style and needs of your boss and yourself to develop a healthy relationship.

·         Report regularly: Brief according to the preferred style of your boss. Report verbally if it is your boss’s preferred way. Otherwise, put it in writing in the summary form under one page. Update the boss about your work; notify him or her of problems encountered and how you have resolved them.

·         Be a good follower: Just like your subordinates following you, you support your boss and get things done.

·         Be noticed: You get noticed because you touch base with your boss and interact with him or her regularly.

·         Trust: Build the trust of the boss in you so that your boss can rely on you to get things done and your input to make wise decisions.

·         You don’t have to be a yes-man: Your boss will appreciate your valuable ideas. A reasonable boss is willing to listen to constructive criticism when you do it tactfully with supporting facts and figures.

·         Pay compliment: It is not to flatter but to appreciate the strengths of your boss. Do it sparingly at the right time to boost his or her ego.

The rapport that you have built over time with your boss will impress your boss and you will be considered preferentially and favorably to get promoted.