July 7, 2019

Who is managing who?

Baby doll throwing toys in anger

I ran a workshop on learning transfer last week and got the inevitable comment, “I wish my boss was here, learning what he needs to know.”

At the time, we laughed it off, but later I thought about the whole concept of managing upwards and how we tend to do so little to understand our bosses.

What do they want from their job?
What does success look like to them?
How do they want to be seen by others?
What is their personal style compared to me?
What do they need to know to help our relationship?
What do I need to know about them to make working with them easier?

Ask good questions. You get the idea…

We also easily forget that they are not like us. They have a different style and approach to what we would have in their shoes.

Here are a couple of simple tools to help figure out the differences, and what to do about them.

Remember, you started managing your parents at a very young age. Think about it 🙂

My best wishes, Paul

Paul Matthews

CEO and Founder of People Alchemy

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