Sucking up to the Boss

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my job, and how it’s really not what I want to be doing. Given my glum mood this week, I’ve decided to devote all weekend to writing and getting back on track with my goals there, so I have a little more balance in my life.

But… thriving at work, even when you’re not doing what you want to be doing, is important. For me, it’s important to my mental health. For others, a promotion is the ticket to more money and doing what you really want to be doing later. With that, I came across this article which talks about the fine art of sucking up to your boss. This was hard for me. My current manager has a very hands-off approach that I had to get used to as a new employee. Sometimes it feels like she forgets I report to her. In any event, I think this advice is pretty helpful in general for how to be more flexible and more humble to achieve your own objectives, and maintain your self-respect at the same time. Hope you find it interesting. Here’s a teaser on three simple strategies for “managing your manager”:

1) First figure out your boss' style and adapt to it. This encompasses everything from how your boss talks and works – very fast and direct or slow and methodical – to how much daily communication he or she wants. "You build rapport every time you match energy," says the author.
2) Make every idea seem like it was the boss' idea.
3) Pay attention to timing. Read when the boss is in a good or bad mood, and work the good side.