Befriend your boss

Being friends with your boss can be complicated. If you genuinely like each other and want to have a social bond, a friendship is worth cultivating, as it would be with any co-worker. But don’t make a special effort beyond what you’d do with any other colleague. If the boss/friend line is too blurry, articulate where you stand in the moment: ‘I’m speaking as your friend here ...’ or ‘As your employee, I’m telling you ...’ And you don’t want others to think you’re getting special treatment, so take time to consider the decisions your boss is making. Are you getting all the good assignments and easy trips? Ask trusted co-workers if your relationship is a problem for others. If it does seem to be causing resentment, talk with your boss. You might say, “I really appreciate that you’ve given me some of the softball assignments, but I’m concerned that my colleagues might perceive this as favouritism.”

(Adapted from Can You Be Friends With Your Boss? by Karen Dillon)

Ask for candid feedback

Getting honest, useful feedback is the fastest route to better performance. But people are sometimes too nice to share the full picture or too intimidated to be fully truthful. You need to be clear that you want honest feedback. If you say, ‘Don’t be nice, be helpful,’ people will be less likely to hold back. Instead of asking what you did wrong, ask what you can do better going forward. Try not to judge any feedback you receive, whether it’s positive or negative. Just thank people for being honest with you and let them know that you find their observations and opinions helpful. Try to write down what they say. A little silence communicates that you’re taking feedback seriously, and it gives people time to think about what else they might add. And don’t just ask once. Give people multiple opportunities to give you real feedback.

(Adapted from How to Ask for Feedback That Will Actually Help You, by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg and Peter Bregman)

Squelch an innovative idea

‘Prove it.’ Those are the two words most deadly to innovation. It often makes sense to ask for analytical proof before making a decision, but this phrase can set a standard that’s impossible to meet. There is no data about how a genuinely new idea will interact with the world, so there is no way to prove it will work in advance. So while you might think you’re just being rigorous, you can actually end up killing innovation. To keep your innovators from being discouraged, you need to distinguish between when you are honing and refining an existing system and when you are attempting to create something genuinely new. In the former, it’s fine to ask for evidence. In the latter, you need to take an entirely different approach. Focus on prototyping to test innovative ideas in small ways without much upfront investment. Iterative experimentation will generate data and refine the solution.

(Adapted from 2 Words That Kill Innovation, by Roger Martin)

Manage a board

As investors have become more powerful and boards more sovereign, it has become increasingly important for CEOs to manage up. To lead your directors and investors more effectively you should know how to:

Recruit strong directors. Directors should bring business leadership to the table. When recruiting new directors, assess their capacity to think strategically about the firm, its competitive position and what creates or destroys value at the firm.

Restructure the board. Executives need to change a board from time to time to meet shifting market needs. Those who govern a company that is growing in its home market are likely different from those who can help an enterprise go global.

Evaluate directors. Work with the board to create annual evaluations of individual members, as well as reviews for the board as a whole.

(Adapted from How CEOs Can Best Manage Their Boards, by Michael Useem)

Change name

Whether to change your name is a personal decision — but one with professional ramifications. If you want to launch your new identity and avoid having your emails deleted by colleagues, follow these steps:

Announce the change. Send an email blast to your contacts.

Expect some misunderstandings. Be patient. People may be temporarily confused by your new moniker, but they’ll catch on once you explain.

Update all of your accounts at the same time. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email addresses, blogs, etc. Don’t confuse people by updating your online identity piecemeal. If you’re changing your name, build in a transitional period in which you include your old identity.

(Adapted from How to Change Your Name and Keep Your Professional Identity, by Dorie Clark)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, March 30th , 2015

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