The Art (and Business) of Managing Up
— reported by HispanicAd.com
Manage up your boss.
Managing up your boss positions the organization well, aligns desired behaviors, helps senior leaders be more visible, and creates an opportunity for praise. “Don’t think your boss is getting overwhelmed with praise,” says Studer. “Bosses hear what’s wrong all the time. Very rarely do they hear what’s right.” Here are a few suggestions:
* Write your boss a thank you note. Be specific about what you appreciate, because it will align your boss’s behavior to your own and help you control your own destiny. For example, if you say, “Debbie, I really appreciate the fact that you always make time for me because I find this to be so important,” what do you think will happen the next time you see Debbie? She will make time for you.
* Give your boss information that helps him connect with staff in a sincere way. In Hardwiring Excellence, Studer gives an example of a staff member telling him about another employee whose sister-in-law had died. This gave him the opportunity to offer the bereaved employee his condolences. “Otherwise, I might never have heard about it,” he writes. “Then one day, someone might ask the employee, ‘How do you feel about Quint?’ And that person might say, ‘Oh, he’s a machine. He has no feelings!'”
Other “managing up” tips include:
- Manage up your staff
- Manage up your organization
