There are tried and tested strategies to maintain a professionally healthy relationship with the boss
TWO people in the world are never wrong — the customer and the boss. In fact, they are right even when they are wrong! So does that imply a “Yes, Boss” attitude where flattery and buttering up is the only way to get along with your superiors? Not at all. There are many ways to get along with your boss.
The first and foremost understanding is by virtue of what role you put him in, and what your expectations are. If you expect him to be fair and reasonable, but find him biased and inequitable and condemn him for life, you will find communicating with him virtually impossible. The vicious circle of misunderstanding and miscommunication will either end in no promotion for you, or you tendering your resignation to find a more congenial working environment. However, the likelihood of such an occurrence is rare as most bosses tend to have some peculiarity or the other.
Usually, the word ‘boss’ is supposed to be an acronym for ‘bully’, ‘obnoxious’, ‘sarcastic’ and ‘stupid’. The question is: How to manage such an impossible man? Stop expecting him to change and start making an effort to change yourself and adapt to his needs and wants.
The following tried and tested strategies can be used to manage and maintain a professionally healthy relationship with the boss.
CHANGE IN ATTITUDE: Human psyche resents authority. Sometimes, this resentment and conceit may blind you in accepting your faults and shortcomings.
Work consciously towards maintaining a relationship where you can get along well with your boss. The recommended attitude is to treat the boss as a difficult customer who is going to complain and crib, but who needs to be marketed properly to win him over to your ideas. With this expectation, you will find yourself trying to find what he wants, and then tailor your ideas and sell them in such a way that he feels that they are his own, making him become dependent on you for his success.
UNDERSTAND HIM: Bosses can vary in disposition and temperament. One is the congenial, easy-to-approach kind of personality. Another is a rash character who takes it upon himself to command respect in a peremptory manner. You can also have a midway combination of a boss who is stern, yet at the same time approachable.Unfortunately, they are in minority.
The boss’s temperament and style of working should be well understood in order to work compatibly. To function according to his parameters, find out what your boss is finicky about and make sure you are extra careful about such issues. Emphasize what your boss thinks is a priority and downplay the rest. If he is a person who is organized and orderly, he will expect you to be the same. If he is slipshod, he is probably a person who is more concerned on meeting deadlines.
DON’T SHIRK RESPONSIBILITY: However hard-pressed you may be, make sure you keep up your word and deliver the goods as promised. You may have to work overtime to achieve this; so make good use of your time and resources.Don’t shirk responsibilities, instead treat them as challenges.
DON’T BACKBITE: If you take to bad-mouthing your boss and shouting your mouth off on what a cruel person he is, it will not be appreciated in the long run.
Be very careful about what you say to whom. Organiz-ational politics have a way of twisting your words and turning them against you. Many apparently friendly colleagues may be waiting for an opportunity to get back at you by making subtle suggestions to your boss about your “weird sense of humour.”
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION: Bosses often see us as their work problems — somebody to assign work to, receive work from and keep busy. The better that you are at solving their management problems, the better chances you will have at having a better work situation. This does not mean that you do not work to identify problems, but rather that you work to a quick identification of problems and then provide a solution for those problems. Solve your own problems and those of others. This may provide your best job security yet. This will let your boss know that you are a team player and too good of an asset to let go. Work out the problems; do not let them be a means for your dismissal. This will help your projects, your boss and most importantly, you.
MAINTAIN A GOOD RAPPORT: Treat your boss as a friend when you meet at social gatherings and try not to be stand-offish. Appreciate your boss whenever you get a chance to, and see that it’s genuine praise and not flattery. Try to find out about his hobbies and interests. If he is interested in cricket, it is advisable to develop a good knowledge about his favourite matches, favourite players and discuss them with him to create a common platform where you can communicate with him at the level of a friend, rather than a formal superior whom you have to bow in subservience all the time.
The sensible strategy is not to act a smart alec and make him feel insecure and infuriated by your high-brow attitude of how ill-conversant he is with modern techniques, but to make him feel that a blend of his experience and expertise and your energy and enthusiasm will create a win-win combination which will help you and your boss make an outstanding place in the organization.
