Getting Your Boss to Do What You Want
There was an article on managing your boss in April issue of Fast Company. It was written by the author of “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die”
“But let’s apply Sutherland’s approach to another irritable mammal: your boss”
In the article, they were saying that you can use the trick of exotic-animal training to manage your boss. And it listed three rules.
Rule 1 - is to ignore bad behavior
Rule 2 - any interaction is training
Rule 3 - reward the behavior you want
As much as I wanted to say that it’s useful, I believe there must be some form of understanding of your boss before you can start using the tricks.
It was mentioned in the article “Managing your boss” from Harvard Business review that you need to understand your boss in terms of:
1) Goals and Objectives
2) Pressure
3) Strength, Weakness and Blind spot
4) Preferred work style
With the outstanding, you will be able to work better with your boss. And by working well with your boss, you will eventually get what you are hoping for.
You might be thinking how the understanding can help you. Here’s an example.
“Peter Drucker divides bosses into “listeners” and “readers.” Some bosses like to get information in report form so they can read and study it. Others work better with information and reports presented in person so they can ask questions. As Drucker points out, the implications are obvious. If your boss is a listener, you brief him or her in person, then follow it up with a memo. If your boss is a reader, you cover important items or proposals in a memo or report, then discuss them.”
John J, Gabarro and John P. Kotter “Managing Your Boss” Harvard Business Review, January 2005
On top of that, the understanding of your boss’s goals and objectives can help you in preparing any strategy that you are going to propose. Your proposal will surely be rejected if it goes against your boss’s goals and objectives.
The tricks will have more impact once you have gathered all the understanding of your boss.
Its alway a fine line between sucking up to your boss and be smart in getting what you want. So tread the fine line carefully or you will be the number one public enemy in the company.
Let me know if you have used it and how did it goes through my twitter.
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