YOUR BUSINESS
Is your boss on your side?
Recently I’ve had a lot of questions that I would describe as – “What should you do when you have the feeling that your boss is just not on your side - when it seems like your boss does not value you, is working against you, is making you go slower, or generally blocking you?
Three specific situations:
- Your boss doesn't seem to value who you are and what you offer
- Micro-managing and wanting too much detail
- They block your visibility and ability to network
1) Getting your boss to value what you uniquely offer:
Everyone would like to be using all their strengths in their work, and feel appreciated for them. People want to be recognized for the broad set of skills they offer, but some managers seem to be entirely focused only on narrow set of tactics and deliverables. It’s frustrating.
Give them what they need first.
If you are on the hook for an outcome or a deliverable, a product, a sales quota, a business deal, etc., a tactically focused boss is never going to want to hear about anything else until the deliverable is delivered.
Your strategic ideas and suggestions for additional value-add will fall on deaf ears, and potentially even make matters worse for you, if you come across as not being focused enough on the deliverable.
First, do a complete and excellent job on whatever it is your boss is counting on, and THEN have the more strategic discussion.
2) Getting your boss’s focus off the detail
Some bosses just can’t let go of the detail as they advance. This is a problem for all involved, them, you, and the organization. But this is pretty common. And it is frustrating for a few reasons.
- It makes you feel like you are not trusted
- It makes you feel like you are seen as not competent if you don’t have command of the detail
- It wastes a lot of time to collect, manage, and discuss detail that is not adding value to what you are doing.
Focus on outcomes
If your boss always demands more detail than you know is productive, you need to be the one to change the agenda.
Getting your visibility and ability to network unblocked
I often talk about the critical importance of developing relationships with your boss’s boss and your boss’s peers.
If you have a boss that feels threatened by this and blocks it, that makes it harder, but you can’t give up.
Your career will suffer without this level of visibility.
YOUR PEOPLE
Connect your boss with your team
One of the most important things you can do as a manager is to connect your boss with your team.
The benefits of this are significant, let me see if I can think of ten:
- Your team gets visibility for the work they do
- You get a chance to showcase your star performers with your boss.
- You get visibility for the work your team does
- You get visibility for recruiting, retaining and growing rising stars
- Your team gets a better understanding of how what they do fits into the bigger picture
- You team is more motivated because they do not feel “lost” in the organization.
- Your boss can reinforce difficult decisions you are making
- Your boss can answer questions directly, and your team will feel like they are “in the know”
- You give your top performers better access to make personal connections at a higher level, so they will love you for that.
- You get leadership points from both your boss and your team.
This is one of the most important things you can do as a leader of your team. Here’s how I do it.
YOUR VISIBILITY
What to ask for
One thing you need to be comfortable with is differentiating performance. The worst thing you can do for your top performers is treat them like everybody else. These suggestions are the things you should reserve for your top performers, and therefore, you need to make sure you are top performer if you want your boss to do them for you.
I will put them in three categories:
- Development
- Visibility
- Compensation
Here is how to ask for the right things in the right ways:
YOUR LIFE
What you can and can’t live with?
OK, one big caveat. So far I’ve been talking about bosses which are mostly OK or good. Maybe annoying, not as supportive, articulate or inspiring as you’d like, but at least OK.
There are some bosses out there that have genuine psychological disorders. Somehow these people climb the ladder into top management and many create significant success, either in spite of or because of their psychology.
If you are unfortunate to have ended up working for one of these people, here are a few things to consider.
What this personality typically looks like:
Your boss:
- Flies off the handle and becomes abusive for no apparent or logical reason
- Demands lots of time and attention from others even if it is not productive
- Relates to people/performance through personal attacks vs. business results
- Completely closed to reason/change/internal self discovery
If you have a boss like this you need to realize and do a few key things:
I hope you have found some useful ideas that will help you do something specific to build value in your career and business and enjoy your life.
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About Patty
Patty Azzarello was the youngest general manager at HP ever at the age of 33. She ran a $1B software business at the age of 35 and was a CEO for the first time at the age of 38. Patty is known for her personal leadership qualities, her straightforward and practical manner, and her genuine interest in making a real connection with people to help them to advance their career and business, and to find ways to enjoy their life more.
Today Patty Azzarello is the CEO of Azzarello Group, www.AzzarelloGroup.com a unique services organization focused on helping companies develop and motivate their top performers and grow their business.
Azzarello Group delivers practical, experience-based tools, through products and services including, executive coaching, public speaking, leadership workshops, online programs, and consulting with teams on business execution.
