When asked, most people want to raise their profile in their company. They want to be noticed, rewarded and appreciated. If you truly want to be recognized with a promotion or award, making your clients happy is not enough. Developing connections with colleagues, senior executives and your boss is what brings about the recognition. Here are some tips for in person communication. (This is the last of three blogs about managing up for young leadership.)
How do you get ahead in your job? Managing down and managing up. Many professionals have said that working with their team is often fairly straightforward and rewarding. It’s the managing of their boss and other senior executives, that is more challenging. For more junior staff, the guidelines for managing up can be even more slippery and the concept completely new. How do you earn the trust of your boss and become valuable to them so you receive the rewards you treasure?
If you want to establish a great working relationship with your boss, knowing whatever you can do to make your boss’s job easier is good. Being a young professional, Millennial or Gen Z, guidelines to do this may not be so obvious. Here is the first of three blog posts on how to manage up. This first one focuses on laying the ground work for good communication.
It’s worth it to make an effort to learn about and appreciate each person you work with. You want the best for and from them, and they will only show you that best if they know someone cares enough to see it. Furthermore, their dedication and engagement in work comes from being happy and being seen as full individuals. You could be responsible for the individuals on your team being encouraged or discouraged. When people are dissatisfied, they leave their bosses not their jobs.
Everyone has their “safe zone”. Millennials have tighter zones than other generations for many reasons. If you allow the young talent in your projects, staff and organization to stretch beyond that space, you’ll be rewarded by their increased participation, productivity and personal growth.
Many executives don’t have time to develop their people as individuals with specific needs. There’s a large number of emerging leaders, who need trusted advisors who could empower and help them develop as leaders. Who to turn to?
Does this sound at all familiar? I remember being a young professional in the marketing field being spoken to as if I knew nothing. I had completed a lengthy and high-level education with solid job experience. Didn’t I deserve credit for that? And, was this the best way for me to learn?
With gratitude to the 16 young leaders who let me into their honest opinions. I asked them, “What is the respectful environment that allows you to perform at their best? Describe it.” These are the responses I received.
Employees rate the number one desire to receive from their boss and other leaders is to be treated with respect. Mutual respect in an organization allows a company to operate optimally, to shine. How do you show respect? How do you encourage respect? One easy way to energize a team.
