Managing The Boss Is Essential To Career Success

Your boss is the gatekeeper of your career. Unless you are able to manage a positive relationship with him at each step in your career you will fall short of your potential.

Like it or not, never forget he is the portal through which you connect with the rest of the organization and its resources. Your boss is the one who can pass you along for promotions, or he can stop you dead in your tracks. He is the first hurdle you must get over to get more responsibility and more money. Your plans and budgets must gain his approval, says Ramon Greenwood, head of CommonSenseAtWork.com.

Bosses are not abstract boxes on organization charts. Bosses are human beings, not much different from you and me.

On any given day, bosses can appear as a parent who is respected, feared or barely tolerated. They can be mean, insecure, domineering, and even crazy in varying degrees. They can be competitors and roadblocks or they can be enablers who will help you to advance your career. They are people with whom you will have conflicts, that is if you are pushing to the limits of your abilities and ambitions.

There are seven rules of the road that lead to a positive boss relationship.

(1) The first rule is an especially hard one to accept: everybody has a boss, like it or not. Few achievers like the notion of having a master. Accepting authority is basically at odds with many of the attributes required for success.

Managers report to department heads. Vice Presidents are responsible to executive vice presidents. Presidents report to chairmen of the board who report to directors who report to shareholders. "Mom and Pop" running neighborhood quick-shop markets have some of the toughest bosses in the world, their customers.

Many years ago a Danish zoologists proved that even in the barnyard chickens work within the reality of a strong hierarchy. There is always a top chicken. It can peck other chicken in the yard to show who is boss. The second level chicken can peck those at the lower levels, and so goes the "pecking order."

(2) Always respect the hierarchy. Make the extra effort to respect your boss and his experience. You don't have to like the idea of having a boss. Just recognize reality.

(3) Work to make your boss look good in the eyes of his boss. Work diligently to get him or her promoted. Opportunities are created for you when your boss gets promoted.

(4) Never, never go around your boss. Work with and through him. You may believe your boss to be incompetent and a roadblock to all the great things you can do for the business. This may be true, but you put yourself in extreme danger if you elect to circumvent your boss. The hierarchy will close ranks to protect itself from such violations. It must do so to survive.

(5) Know that bosses make mistakes, too. When your boss errs do everything you can to cover his backside and help him to get back on track.

(6) Keep your connections with your boss on a strictly professional basis. Never rely on friendship with your boss. Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, had some good advice on this point: "A man should live with his superiors as he does with his fire; not too near, lest he burn; not too far, lest he freeze."

(7) Develop a relationship of mutual dependency between yourself and your boss. You depend on him for support and endorsement. He depends on you for the hard work and talent that help him succeed.

If, after all is said and done, you still can't get along with your boss and the existing hierarchy; find another position in another organization. But remember, wherever you go, you will always have a boss.

Ramon Greenwood is former senior VP of American Express; a professional director, American Express International, financial institutions and consumer goods companies; Senior Career Counselor, http://CommonSenseAtWork.com; consultant to a wide variety of businesses; author of How To Make The World Of Work Work For You and a syndicated column, Common Sense At Work.

---

Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking

When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think... Read More

Reading the Want Ads--Not for Jobs--For Information

What? Want ads are where job announcements are, not information!Wait!... Read More

The Secrets to Interview Success

Many well qualified and extremely able candidates fail at job... Read More

Resume Writing - Get That Job

Looking for a new job, whether it is with a... Read More

Prepare for Your Performance Review Before You Start the Job

When you start a new job, you probably realize the... Read More

Interpersonal Skill Building -- Yank The Suckers & Weeds

According to the National Gardening Association, suckers are rapidly growing... Read More

5 Resume Mistakes Telecommuters Often Make

Finding a legit telecommute job can be difficult. Telecommute jobs... Read More

Negotiating Skills: How to Obtain the Salary You Want

Salary negotiating is an important topic that must be addressed... Read More

Don?t Be Too Passionate About Your Work

Of course, she then offered me a six-month process, costing... Read More

3 Resume Secrets the Pros Use

You don't write a resume every day. Not even every... Read More

When the Teacher Becomes the Student

A relationship expert once said that during an argument, there's... Read More

How To Pick The Best Career For You, Part 1

In Part One we'll look at how Positioning or "Coming... Read More

Create a Network and Catapult Your Job Search

Networking is still known as a great job-search strategy, yet... Read More

CVs And Resumes Sometimes Just Get In The Way

As a head-hunter and Career Coach I see so many... Read More

What Everybody Ought To Know About How To Change Their Career or Profession and Still Survive...

Dr. Denis Waitley, trainer of leaders, including Super Bowl and... Read More

Opportunities in Automotive Services Industries - How To Cash In

I believe it would be safe to say that the... Read More

50 Things To Do To Your Boss That Are Fun For You, But Not For Them

1. You're eavesdropping and you hear your boss has reservations... Read More

How To Find Your Dream Job

Here's the bottom line: many people work in jobs that... Read More

Overcome Interview Nerves: Be Better Prepared than Your Interviewer

Although interview preparation is everything it's sad to say that... Read More

Seeking A New Job While Currently Employed : Tiptoeing Through the Minefield

So, you currently have a job but you are looking... Read More

Why Well Produced Career Portfolios Are Replacing CVs

What is a Career Portfolio?The original portfolio used by artists... Read More

Using Keywords to Find Legitimate Telecommuting Job Leads

Many people are choosing telecommuting as an option to bring... Read More

Tackling Your Unemployment Creatively

Are you unemployed or been laid off? You are not... Read More

Competency Based Interviews - 6 Steps to Success!

Competency based interviews are intended to get the best from... Read More

Dont Forget to Say, Thank You

One of the biggest mistake for job seeks is to... Read More

Rev-Up Your Network!

Whether you are looking for a job, new clients or... Read More

How To Stay Calm in Tryng Times

That's not you? Great! Bad habits are hard to break... Read More

When All Is Not Well With Work

When all is not well with work, what do you... Read More

Why You Only Really Need Four Sample Resumes

Any job seeker looking for sample resumes usually doesn't have... Read More

How to Tell if You are Fired and Just Dont Know It

No one should be fired and be surprised about it.... Read More

Take the Personal Out of the Workplace: Leave Your Troubles at the Door!

Bringing your emotional baggage into the work place is inappropriate... Read More

Career Success: Take Charge of Your Career

People react very differently to the waves of change that... Read More

Working From Home - Could You Cope?

It is a well-known fact that more and more people... Read More