Career Management Consultants, Inc.

 

 

Catch your boss doing

something right

 

This quick quiz is NOT official. But many find truth in what they discover!

 

 

You have a boss. On your boss’ first day you:

 

Introduce yourself and hand her an executive briefing on what she needs to know about your projects and the organization and offer to review it with her.

You’re setting the relationship up for success.  It demonstrates you’re ready to help and support her.  You’re creating the foundation for mutual trust and loyalty.

 

 

 

You have a great idea and you want to present it to your boss. You:

 

Test out your idea with key people whose support is critical, then get your boss’ input before you finalize the plan. 

People are more likely to support new ideas if they feel they’ve had a hand in forming them. And people are more open to hearing new ideas if they think the ideas are in the “brainstorming” stage.

 

 

 

Your boss has asked you to take on another project and you are already in overload. You:

 

Explain impact of new project on other priorities and explore alternatives to meet goals such as an outside consultant, pushing out deadlines, an intern, etc.

There are two major constraints to getting projects accomplished: time and money.  No time—money can buy the time of others to help.  No money—more time may be needed to accomplish the project.  Unfortunately for the boss, the universe does not work on a no time/no money continuum.

 

 

 

You want a job that is going to come open soon in another department.  You:

 

Network with the department head and other members, learn the issues facing them and give them some ideas you think would benefit the department.

You are demonstrating the value-added you can bring to the team while they get to know you.

 

 

 

 

You have a stickler for a boss.  Misspellings and inconsistent formats drive him crazy.  You’re not good at self-editing and you’ve got a big presentation. You:

 

Ask someone who is good at self-editing to look it over for you. 

Some of us are just not wired to see the details and it’s not for lack of caring or time. That’s why we are good at seeing the big picture.  Best to enlist the help of someone who loves to ferret out all these mistakes.  Just be sure to return the favor when the person needs a big idea or new strategy.  And use spell check too.

 

 

 

You were up for a promotion and someone else got it.  Now you’ll be reporting to them. You:

 

 

Sit down with your new boss, share your disappointment and ask him to mentor you to be his successor. 

One thing about corporate life, wait six months and the players change.  The new person was brought in for a reason. Learn from this person, cultivate trust, demonstrate loyalty and ask him to develop you to succeed him.  He knows why he was promoted (and you weren’t given the job) and has a vested interest in having a qualified successor in place—so he can move on to his next promotion.

 

 

If your answers matched the ones above—take a bow. If not, check out the articles on a New Boss and Surviving a Reorganization to begin with. Check the site periodically for new articles addressing other issues highlighted in the Quiz.

 

Let us contribute to your success.