What Your Boss Really Needs from You

Many employees wish they had a better boss. That’s understandable, given the not so great state of management in our companies and organizations. But guess what? Most supervisors and managers wish they had better employees. That’s why you hear so much about the dire state of employee engagement—only 30% of employees are truly engaged according to Gallup.

The state of management doesn’t look like it’s going to be transformed anytime soon—and you’re not going to fix the employee engagement problem single-handedly. So what can you do? You can focus on what you can control by focusing on giving your manager what he or she wants and needs from you. Here are three ways to do that:

No surprises. Keep your boss informed of anything and everything that is important for them to know. Your boss doesn’t want to learn about a problem after the fact when you could have told them of a possible storm coming their way. If you keep your boss informed, you will increase his or her trust in you, and as a result, you will have more influence over them. If you’re not sure you should communicate with your boss about something, that’s likely a sign you should. Over time, you will refine your ability to know what and how much to communicate to your boss.

Be sure you know  your boss's expectations. I’ve said it before and it bears repeating: the only way you can be sure you know what your boss says is to ask on a consistent basis and get it in writing. When you meet with your boss to discuss expectations, take notes and confirm your understanding as you are listening and asking questions. Afterwards, send your boss an email detailing what you understand the expectations to be and have them confirm or clarify your understanding.

Express your appreciation and respect. From your vantage point, it might look like it’s easy to be the boss, but in reality, it’s not. As a boss, you have to do your work, help your team with their work—and you have to satisfy senior management. Someone, on some level, is always going to be unhappy about something. Your boss needs to hear from you what they’re doing right and what you appreciate about their leadership. A good rule of thumb is he or she needs to hear positives from you ten times for every  complaint or a disappointment they hear from you.

-Alan Allard, Career Coach