By Tarunkumar G. Singhal, Raman Jokhakar, Chartered Accountants
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To many people, the phrase “managing your boss” may sound unusual or suspicious. Because of the traditional top down emphasis in most organisations, it is not obvious why you need to manage relationships upward — unless, of course, you would do so for personal or political reasons.
But we are not referring to political manoeuvring or to apple polishing. We are using the term to mean the process of consciously working with your superior to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss and the company.
Recent studies suggest that effective managers take time and effort to manage not only relationships with their subordinates but also those with their bosses. These studies also show that this essential aspect of management is sometimes ignored by otherwise talented and aggressive managers…
The fact is, bosses need cooperation, reliability and honesty from their direct reports. Managers, for their part, rely on bosses for making connections with the rest of the company, for setting priorities and for obtaining critical resources.
If the relationship between you and your boss is rocky, then it is you who must begin to manage it. When you take the time to cultivate a productive working relationship — by understanding your boss’ strengths and weaknesses, priorities and work style — everyone wins.
(Source: The Economic Times dated 23.11.2013)
