After twenty-two years of coaching both employees and managers alike, I have found that there are some fairly consistent answers to this question.
In my experience the vast majority of managers I have interacted with consistently identify the following six basic tips/rules:
- Make Me Look Good - yes that is right, every boss expects their subordinates to help them look good across all levels of the organization.
- Display Loyalty - they expect you to openly display loyalty to them.
- Be An Enabler - they expect you to find ways to further their agenda and help them succeed within the organization.
- Don't Patronize Me - they expect their subordinates to challenge their ideas and decision however, this needs to be done respectfully and remember, no one likes push back for the sake of push back.
- Be A Low Maintenance Employee - bosses appreciate a self reliant employee as this will enabler your boss to focus on delivering key functional or business priorities versus being required to micro manage issues.
- Be Honest With Them - let them know what your career expectations are so they can find ways to support your development.
So if you have a fairly typical boss it would benefit you to understand their motives and follow these six basic rules for successfully managing your relationship with them. If you do this it will ultimately pay dividends for both your career and relationship with your boss.
Be sure to check out my next blog where, I will write about "What Do Employees Really Want From Their Boss?"
Cheers
Neale
