What do you do when you disagree with the actions of you boss? Lara Hogan has thought about this quite a bit. She recommends that you answer the following questions before you try to influence your boss:
- "How does your manager perceive their role?"
- "What’s weighing on your manager’s mind?"
By answering these two questions, you'll have context to begin. First, you need to be clear what you are asking and to do this, you need to know what you want.
Being specific will help you make sure you get what you actually need, and avoid the slow dance of your manager trying to infer it. — Lara Hogan
If they say "no", perhaps there are some framing adjustments you can make. Frame the needs in a language they speak. Incorporate their needs in to your problem.
It’s WAY easier to frame your request in terms of the thing that’s already top-of-mind for your manager, than it is to try to make a case for them to care about something new. — Lara Hogan
Lara has a couple other tips, too!
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How to manage up effectively
In the last post, I walked through:
