Ken Canion

Managing up is the procedure of consciously working with your boss to find the best potential results for you, your boss and your organization. It is a deliberate attempt to bring understanding and cooperation to a relationship among individuals who frequently have different perspectives.

1- Get to know your boss:
The first rule for dealing bosses effectively is to realize who they are and what they want. In other words, put yourself in their shoes. While many persons have a superficial understanding of their bosses' goals and forces, they often fail to evaluate the individual strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and work styles of their supervisors. Researching these issues will help you think outdoor of your own needs, identify commonalities you never knew existed and gain insight on how to interact more effectively with your boss. Also, I suggest researching various personality styles to the true needs of your boss. I read a good book on personalities called How To Work With People. You can order it at www.natsem.com http://www.natsem.com. Another way to get to know is to set up monthly counseling sessions to show your willingness to do what is necessary to give your boss what he/she wants.

2- Get to know yourself:
Formulating an effective working relationship with your boss also involves that you understand yourself. Realize your strengths, weaknesses, goals and personal needs, and pay special attention to how you react to being managed.

3- Solicit clear expectations and priorities:
Managing up is no easy task it demands patience, emotional maturity and the courage to call for action, but its rewards are worth the effort. One of the worst faults you can make is to assume you know what your boss requires. Most bosses do not spell out their expectations, and the load of discovery hangs on those below them. Some supervisors give both verbal and nonverbal clues that they only need to hear good news; they don't want to learn about problems.

4- Build trust:
A key factor in dealing your boss is building trust in the relationship by being trustworthy. Effectively dealing your boss will demand that you respect his or her time. Don't take every issue to your boss for his or her opinion. Don't expect your boss to realize your issue automatically. To get what you want in your organization, you have to ask for it and you have to sell your boss on the issue.

5- Give positive reinforcement:
Everybody within an organization needs positive reward, you need it; your boss wants it. Some experts even advise that the most significant objective for employees is to appear positive of their bosses. There are a lot of terrible bosses out there, and it is unlikely that you will successfully alter anyone. While you can't control your boss, you can manipulate your attitude.