We have been talking about the things you can do to encourage your boss to promote you. Now we will look at a few things you should NOT do. To recap, in Part 1, we found that looking after your boss is a great way to speed up your next promotion and in Part 2 we saw some effective strategies to use.
Here is the first career management pitfall you should avoid. Never, never, never create new problems for your boss. It sounds obvious yet people do it all the time. Usually, they do not even realize they are doing it until the damage is already done.
If you miss deadlines, frequently ask for special treatment, argue with co-workers, gossip about others in the office or complain frequently then you are creating problems instead of solving them. Again, this is NOT a recipe for promotion. In fact, the number one reason people get passed over for promotions (or even get themselves fired) is the problems they create.
It is bad enough to spend valuable time on things that fail to add value to your boss such as when Jenny was planting flowers around her fig tree but it is even worse to spend the time on something the boss will see as a problem. It would be like Jenny not only planting those flowers but also digging deeper into the soil to plant bushes that could then choke off the roots of the fig tree.
Let me ask another tough question. When you prioritize the tasks on your plate do you tend to focus first on the ones you like the best? The truth is that most people do. It is understandable. If a sales rep has to call on 10 clients it is human nature to call on the friendliest ones first. A purchasing agent would usually rather shop for great deals than fill out requisition forms. A car mechanic would probably rather give a tune-up to a Ferrari than overhaul the transmission on a minivan.
The problem is that the task which is the most fun is not always the one that the boss cares the most about. Sometimes working diligently on the cool stuff while ignoring the mundane jobs can cause a lot of trouble.
I once managed a web designer who was very outgoing and just loved to gather requirements for new web sites from our corporate clients. She also really enjoyed writing new programs. Everything sounds pretty good so far, doesn’t it?
There was just one problem. She absolutely, positively hated fixing errors in her programs. She would get downright insulted if someone even suggested that one of her programs had a flaw. Then, once she was convinced the flaw was real she would put off fixing it for as long as humanly possible.
Care to guess what the result of this habit was? That’s right……we ended up with a whole collection of unfinished web pages, none of which would work!
Needless to say this created a problem for me since I had all these unfinished projects to straighten out. It also created a problem for her because I could not advance her to a more responsible position with a higher salary as long as this habit continued.
To sum things up let me suggest a simple plan for “looking after your master” and making sure you get the most financial reward for your efforts in the process.
Step 1 - Ask your boss what the one or two most critical business tasks or problems are right now.
Step 2 - Complete those tasks and solve those problems right away.
Step 3 - Make sure the tasks are done really well and the solutions really fix the problem.
Step 4 - Ask for more tasks and/or problems.
Follow these steps and you will put yourself way ahead of the pack by developing a reputation for being the guy or gal that makes things happen.
Stumble it!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.