Train Your Manager To Be a Better Boss
Work can be miserable when you and your boss don't get
along. At times, quitting may seem to be the only option.
When she was a working journalist, Jill Geisler
decided she didn't want to work for someone she remembers as a "gloriously
imperfect" boss. "Picture Anthony Quinn, Vince Lombardi, and Hawkeye
Pierce all rolled into one man," she says. "Volatile. Demanding. Larger than life."
Ms. Geisler, now a group leader in
She and the man she didn't want to work for are good friends
who laugh about their rocky start 15 years ago. Despite differing styles, they
both valued high-quality journalism and community service. Once Ms. Geisler had earned her supervisor's trust and respect, she
could question and challenge his decisions and even
nag him about his idiosyncrasies.
One reason the relationship succeeded is that Ms. Geisler took responsibility for making it work. Her candor
became the foundation for a close and fruitful professional partnership.
If you work for an imperfect boss, what are you prepared to
do about it? These suggestions from consultants and employment experts can help
you to improve your relationship with a new or long-time supervisor:
1. Learn how to deliver news.
Determine how your boss likes to receive information, says
Patti Hathaway, an organizational-change consultant in
"Your style may be different than theirs," says
Ms. Hathaway. "If you want to influence that relationship, you'll need to
adapt to their preferences."
For instance, does your boss prefer details or just the
bottom line? Competition or cooperation? Often, we
present ideas as we would like them to be presented to us, when, in fact, the
key to managing someone is to try and meet their needs, not ours.
When a new chief executive officer arrived at a well-known
retailer, he established an open-door policy so he could get to know his new
employees better. Three days into his new job, the CEO received an unannounced
visit from a marketing manager who had bad news to deliver. Many employees were
sub-par, including the entire customer-service team, several sales
representatives and many administrators, the manager said.
Open-door policy notwithstanding, the new CEO didn't
appreciate receiving what he viewed as arrogant, inaccurate and overly
judgmental pronouncements. From that day forward, the marketing manager's
dealings with the CEO relationship were strained, and they soon parted ways.
"There's an art to presenting issues to the boss.
Employees who hone that skill stand a better chance of obtaining positive
results," says Ms. Geisler, who now trains
managers. "Frame your advice positively. Avoid loaded words and phrases.
When you say: 'Everyone knows we have a problem with...' your manager may hear
it as a personal accusation instead of an idea for a solution."
2. Learn your boss's likes and dislikes.
Your boss's imperfections offer great opportunities for you
to grow, says Ms. Geisler. Start by studying your
supervisor and learning his or her values, priorities, strengths, weaknesses,
and expertise.
The key to understanding and managing your relationship is knowing what makes your boss "tick," says Ms.
Hathaway. What are his or her pet peeves? Can you tell when your boss is angry
or satisfied?
She suggests observing what someone who gets along well with
your boss does that makes them so successful. If you are too close to the
relationship to be objective, observing someone else can help you learn what's
effective.
It's important to clarify a boss's goals and expectations,
says Johanna Rothman, CEO of Jrothman Consulting
Inc., an information-technology firm in
3. Don't expect your boss to take responsibility
for your relationship.
Employees often mistakenly assume that the boss-subordinate
relationship is a one-way street, instead of
understanding they're responsible for forging an effective working
relationship.
It may help to remember that your boss is an ordinary person
who doesn't have all the answers and needs help, says Michael H. Smith, an
organizational psychologist in
Ms. Geisler says she strived to do
her part to improve her working relationship with her former supervisor.
"Make no mistake about it," she says. "That communication was
something I saw as my responsibility. I worked at balancing our strengths and
styles all the time."
4. Help your manager to be successful.
It's important to help your boss do a good job because your
success is linked to his or hers, says Ms. Rothman.
Figure out what your boss needs to be successful and then
try to provide it. "Take the initiative to provide feedback," says
Mr. Smith. "Many bosses are isolated from their employees, and don't get
enough feedback or genuine insight about an employee's needs and goals."
Don't assume your boss won't appreciate your taking the
initiative to educate him or her. An information-systems executive for a global
manufacturing firm in southern Illinois reports having had six bosses in seven
years, and he's helped train them all. Due to the high turnover in the role, he
knows more about the position than they do. All have appreciated his helpful
suggestions.
Helping them learn what is necessary to be effective is in
his best interest, he says. "It's my job to train them the way I want them
to be trained," he says. "I need my boss to be successful. If my boss
isn't successful, the whole department suffers. Right out of the gate, they
have to sound confident and competent. I don't want them stumbling and hurting
me."
Since his bosses are usually nontechnical
managers, the IS executive assumes they'll need technical coaching. But he's
careful not to overstep his boundaries. "I assume the new manager knows
how to manage people or they wouldn't have gotten the job in the first
place," he says. "But I also assume that they want to succeed in
their new position and that it's my responsibility to help them be
successful."
His advice is nonthreatening
because he doesn't have a hidden agenda: He isn't interested in moving up the
ladder or taking their jobs. He just wants to go on doing his effectively.
"We're on the same team," he said. "And we both have the same
goals. We both want them to be successful."
Ms. Rothman concurs with his views. "Educate them;
don't make them feel ignorant. Don't make them feel like you're judging them. A
new boss in any culture needs to understand 'what everyone knows' - you can get
a lot of mileage out of that. It helps create a bond of trust and
influence."
5. Don't rush things.
As with any good relationship, it takes time to build trust.
Susan Bixler, president and founder of The
Professional Image, a corporate-leadership-consulting firm in
"With so much downsizing and reorganization in the
workplace, the traditional boss-employee bond has deteriorated," she says.
"The length of time and opportunity to develop an effective working
relationship is steadily shrinking."
Diplomacy can be the better part of valor. People who take
the initiative to be a part of the solution usually garner more influence and
support from their bosses than perpetual naysayers.
Ms. Hirsch is a career counselor in
Article from CareerJournal
Today – February 2004