Throughout my own marketing career, I often reported to higher ups who were financial wizards and masters in creating Excel pivot tables, but who didn’t even have a personal Facebook page, let alone a clue about the nuances of crafting social media campaigns. If you’re lucky, that somebody has walked in your shoes, knows what you do, and gets what it takes to actually do the job.
But what if that’s not the case? What if you find yourself with a boss who doesn’t understand what you do or, worse, doesn’t care to find out? Before you panic, consider this: It’s not necessarily the end of the world if your boss hasn’t been in your specific role before.
1. Be Realistic
You don’t want to keep wasting your talents on people who don’t deserve you. Clueless bosses and rudderless companies are a reality. But they don’t have to be your reality.
The only one you can change is you. If you’ve done everything you can to help bring your boss up to speed, and you still can’t get them to acknowledge, understand, or care about you and what you do, then it might be time to think about moving on from this role. Some people will never understand or appreciate what you have to offer. That’s a hard truth to swallow, but it’s OK because other people will appreciate you.
2. Ask Your Colleagues to Pass on Their Praise
Whenever you work on a project and a colleague compliments you, ask them to share their thoughts with your direct supervisor. Do the same with customers and external audiences you might serve.
If your boss isn’t willing to hear from you directly, then your next step is to let others do the talking for you. Tap into the power of your internal network. Leverage the opinions of those at work who see first hand all that you do. It’s as simple as saying something like, “Hey, thank you. I love working with you and your team.
And don’t wait until your annual performance review to share them with your manager. It’ll go a long way coming from you.” Whether they do or don’t give a testimonial on your behalf to your boss, make sure you collect all of these accolades and keep them handy.
3. Be Your Own Cheerleader
You need to frame them up as measurable accomplishments. List out the overall company goals, your team’s contributions, and what you as an individual have done to help realize those goals. And don’t just list off daily tasks you do.
You can’t be shy about your achievements, and you should try to frame them in terms of how they contribute to your boss’s goals and those of the entire organization. You have to make sure your boss knows it, too. If you and your boss aren’t meeting on a regular basis, either weekly or bi-weekly, start doing so immediately. It’s not enough for you to know how what you’re doing is important to the overall success of your team, department, and company.
4. How Your Work Contributes to Company Goals
Your boss has their marching orders from the higher ups. Keep working on breaking things down to get to clear, actionable, and attainable objectives that you can focus on. There’s a purpose to what they do and how they go about doing it.
Xem thêm: CV Simply - Professional Resume Templates
https://cvsimply.hatenablog.com/entry/cv-simply-professional-resume-templates
They’re doing their best to drive results. Good leaders prioritize, plan, and communicate. Your job is to learn what matters to your boss, your boss’s bosses, and to the overall mission of your organization and its stakeholders—and then make sure you ladder up to it. In other words, make sure you understand how what you’re doing is contributing to larger goals.
5. Ask for Help the Right Way
Do your homework prior to sitting down at the meeting. Pick one thing you do—a specific and immediate task that’s clearly needed to deliver on your boss’s bigger picture goals—that you need help with in some way.
Remember, it’s actually OK if your boss isn’t fluent in the minute details of your role. What’s more important is that they can help and support you—whether it’s by giving you more resources, clearing other obligations off your plate to allow you to focus on top priorities, or just by listening and problem-solving with you.
Your boss will respond in one of two ways:
They’ll get flustered or distracted and tell you to figure it out on your own—not because they want to provide you with a professional development opportunity, but because they don’t have the courage to admit they don’t know and don’t care enough to try to figure it out.
They’ll ask you questions and demonstrate a desire to know more so that they can, indeed, understand better and help guide you. They may offer suggestions. This response is ideal for you to discuss what you do and elaborate on the details, always with an eye on why it matters to their goals. It’s your job to help them see you and your value.
6. Be Sure
Your boss isn’t supposed to be in the weeds; rather, it’s their job to see the bigger picture. So take the time to figure out whether your boss really doesn’t get what you do or how you fit in. Here are some ways to go about it:
Go to the source!
Ask colleagues: Others who’ve worked with your boss may offer up some insight. Tap into those resources.
Do your research: Google your boss. What’s their background? They might have more hands-on experience than you realize in roles like yours.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét