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B a l a j i's W e b
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Managing An Unmanageable Boss
Managing An Unmanageable Boss
Are you facing trouble getting your boss to listen to your ideas? You can't put your finger on the problem. All you know is you're not getting credit for what you do right and you're being overlooked for plum assignments.
If this case sounds familiar, psychologists point out that you are vulnerable to "BOSS" or burn out stress syndrome and the problem may be with your inability to communicate with your boss on his/her terms. This is what's known as a failure to "manage up". Managing up is strategically working with the style and goals of another, blending them with your styles and goals to achieve results and accomplish your career objectives. In other words, you need to speak the same language and to focus on the factors that matter to the person you want to influence.
This is essential to career success regardless of your position in a company. No matter how high up the ladder you are, at some point, you'll come across a boss or a manger who's difficult to relate to, handle or influence. A difficult boss is a one who does not understand the emotional needs of his/her employees, is not able to appropriately distribute work assignments equally, does not treat all employees fairly, and is unable to separate his personal life from his professional life.
The practical steps given below are some of the effective ways to deal with the problem and notice the difference.
First, you should try to understand the reasons for your boss's difficult behavior. Assuming that your boss generally behaves in a fairly reasonable manner, and his/her difficult behavior seems to be a result of job stress rather than character, chances are good that the behavior can be modified. If your boss's behavior seems to reflect a chronically hostile, abusive style of interaction regardless of the amount of stress in the workplace, the chances are less positive that the behavior can change. In fact, you may want to consider seeking counsel from a mentor or an HR professional to evaluate your options.
Second, you have to manage your own negative feelings regarding your boss's behavior so that you don't engage in self-defeating behavior.
Third, once you understand and have managed your own negative reactions, you may work to communicate your issues as long as they are framed in a helpful, optimistic manner, thereby creating an atmosphere for problem resolution.
These additional tips can help you to manage up more effectively:
1.Do Your Work Well
Think of your level of excellence as a sliding graph. Move yourself up the graph and you will feel more confident of your position. Doing your work extremely well counteracts the feelings of insecurity a tough boss can generate.
2. Keep Your Integrity Level High
Doing anything unethical will increase the insecurity you feel. Conversely, the more you act with honesty and fairness, the better you will feel about yourself and about your position at work.
3. Stay In Good Communication With Your Co-workers
Your bosses and co-workers may be mature, rational people, but human emotions still influence their decisions, opinions, and conclusions. Stay in constant communication with people not trying to prove anything, but just being yourself and the reality of who you are will help negate any rumours about you.
4. Don't Expect Your Boss To Change
You may have fantasized about getting your boss to change. You can influence how you're coached or managed, but strategizing about how to get your boss to change is difficult. You have control only over yourself, your behaviour and how you're perceived. Managing up is about how you can act and communicate to achieve your goals.
5. Include Your Boss's Goals When Presenting Ideas
Start by knowing the types of goals to pay attention to. To a boss, these include any ideas or actions that improve the bottom line or profits. When you present a new idea, always show how it will either save or make money for the company. Also ask yourself, "How will my idea benefit my boss, the team, the organization and/or the client?" and "How will my idea support the strategic vision of the company?"
Next, determine what else matters to your boss, whether it's customer satisfaction, quality, continuous improvement, professional development for self/team, on-time delivery, or personally moving up the corporate ladder, and address those issues.
6. Be Aware Of Your Boss's "hot buttons"
What are your boss's "hot buttons"? Is it being late for meetings, incorrect spelling and grammar, "mis time-management", or not contributing at meetings? Consider them. If you don't learn to recognize them, you'll commit career mistakes without knowing it.
7. Solicit Feedback Often
Feedback can be a blessing if you can learn from it. By seeking feedback and becoming effective at managing up, an employee can cope with his job and also learn to adapt to other styles.
8. Increase Your Visibility Within The Organisation
Employees sometimes believe this concept, "I don't believe in showing off"?" But if you aren't comfortable showcasing your strengths and accomplishments, why should you expect anybody else do it for you? Your actions to gain visibility are like product marketing. When you go to super-markets, there are thousands of products to buy. When quality differences are minimal, we often select goods/products that have been marketed effectively. One could argue the same goes for professionals working to advance within an organization.
These steps will help reduce the threat from troublemakers (Your Boss). Do your work to the best of your ability, conduct yourself honourably, and stay in good communication. Your position will be solid and the storm will pass over you without too much hassle. Remember, do your work exceptionally well, keep your integrity level high, and stay in good communication with everyone else.
Are you facing trouble getting your boss to listen to your ideas? You can't put your finger on the problem. All you know is you're not getting credit for what you do right and you're being overlooked for plum assignments.
If this case sounds familiar, psychologists point out that you are vulnerable to "BOSS" or burn out stress syndrome and the problem may be with your inability to communicate with your boss on his/her terms. This is what's known as a failure to "manage up". Managing up is strategically working with the style and goals of another, blending them with your styles and goals to achieve results and accomplish your career objectives. In other words, you need to speak the same language and to focus on the factors that matter to the person you want to influence.
This is essential to career success regardless of your position in a company. No matter how high up the ladder you are, at some point, you'll come across a boss or a manger who's difficult to relate to, handle or influence. A difficult boss is a one who does not understand the emotional needs of his/her employees, is not able to appropriately distribute work assignments equally, does not treat all employees fairly, and is unable to separate his personal life from his professional life.
The practical steps given below are some of the effective ways to deal with the problem and notice the difference.
First, you should try to understand the reasons for your boss's difficult behavior. Assuming that your boss generally behaves in a fairly reasonable manner, and his/her difficult behavior seems to be a result of job stress rather than character, chances are good that the behavior can be modified. If your boss's behavior seems to reflect a chronically hostile, abusive style of interaction regardless of the amount of stress in the workplace, the chances are less positive that the behavior can change. In fact, you may want to consider seeking counsel from a mentor or an HR professional to evaluate your options.
Second, you have to manage your own negative feelings regarding your boss's behavior so that you don't engage in self-defeating behavior.
Third, once you understand and have managed your own negative reactions, you may work to communicate your issues as long as they are framed in a helpful, optimistic manner, thereby creating an atmosphere for problem resolution.
These additional tips can help you to manage up more effectively:
1.Do Your Work Well
Think of your level of excellence as a sliding graph. Move yourself up the graph and you will feel more confident of your position. Doing your work extremely well counteracts the feelings of insecurity a tough boss can generate.
2. Keep Your Integrity Level High
Doing anything unethical will increase the insecurity you feel. Conversely, the more you act with honesty and fairness, the better you will feel about yourself and about your position at work.
3. Stay In Good Communication With Your Co-workers
Your bosses and co-workers may be mature, rational people, but human emotions still influence their decisions, opinions, and conclusions. Stay in constant communication with people not trying to prove anything, but just being yourself and the reality of who you are will help negate any rumours about you.
4. Don't Expect Your Boss To Change
You may have fantasized about getting your boss to change. You can influence how you're coached or managed, but strategizing about how to get your boss to change is difficult. You have control only over yourself, your behaviour and how you're perceived. Managing up is about how you can act and communicate to achieve your goals.
5. Include Your Boss's Goals When Presenting Ideas
Start by knowing the types of goals to pay attention to. To a boss, these include any ideas or actions that improve the bottom line or profits. When you present a new idea, always show how it will either save or make money for the company. Also ask yourself, "How will my idea benefit my boss, the team, the organization and/or the client?" and "How will my idea support the strategic vision of the company?"
Next, determine what else matters to your boss, whether it's customer satisfaction, quality, continuous improvement, professional development for self/team, on-time delivery, or personally moving up the corporate ladder, and address those issues.
6. Be Aware Of Your Boss's "hot buttons"
What are your boss's "hot buttons"? Is it being late for meetings, incorrect spelling and grammar, "mis time-management", or not contributing at meetings? Consider them. If you don't learn to recognize them, you'll commit career mistakes without knowing it.
7. Solicit Feedback Often
Feedback can be a blessing if you can learn from it. By seeking feedback and becoming effective at managing up, an employee can cope with his job and also learn to adapt to other styles.
8. Increase Your Visibility Within The Organisation
Employees sometimes believe this concept, "I don't believe in showing off"?" But if you aren't comfortable showcasing your strengths and accomplishments, why should you expect anybody else do it for you? Your actions to gain visibility are like product marketing. When you go to super-markets, there are thousands of products to buy. When quality differences are minimal, we often select goods/products that have been marketed effectively. One could argue the same goes for professionals working to advance within an organization.
These steps will help reduce the threat from troublemakers (Your Boss). Do your work to the best of your ability, conduct yourself honourably, and stay in good communication. Your position will be solid and the storm will pass over you without too much hassle. Remember, do your work exceptionally well, keep your integrity level high, and stay in good communication with everyone else.
# posted by Balsrini @ 9:34 AM 
