How to Manage Your Boss like a Pro

Why Learn Boss Management Skills

As jobs become more and more scarce due to high unemployment rates, the need to know how best to keep the one you have even becomes greater unless of course, you find another job or you branch off into running your own business as an entrepreneur.

Let us face it, many people can boast of being professionals, having rich CVs, and a string of Degrees and a couple of Certifications in such and such training. All that however, can end up looking like not having any meaning if your boss decided to terminate your contract and you became jobless. Being jobless is a dreadful thing, those who have been there can attest to it.

Your boss can let you go for so many reason including just a mere fact that you were not getting along properly. Remember, in Africa it is often joked that if they so wish, the Police can give you a charge at any time as the list of possible offences one could commit is so huge. The same could be true with your boss and or the human resources (HR) team when they just want to terminate your services. There is always something to use legally.

Boss Management is Complex

So why is it easy to manage so many subordinates working under you yet you cannot seem to find an easy way to manage only one person who is your superior?

The answer may lie in one thing. No one prepares us for this kind of things in colleges/universities when we are students, and in the workplaces when we are employees. Even when you start rising in the ranks for instance, you will probably be made to attended a number of workshops on some powerful training sessions on supervisory skills, management skills, and leadership skills among others. All these are aimed at equipping you with skills to manage subordinates in your team and make you excel in your leadership, but not on how to successfully manage your boss.

So why the need to know how to manage your boss an important issue now when all along it might not have mattered?

The Changing Nature of Jobs

Well, while in the past it was common that you joined the Government or a particular company on a permanent and pensionable basis, grew older with it until you retired, and probably with one or two or few bosses over the course of your career, nowadays, this, is no longer the case.

At the moment, many jobs are becoming contractual and fluid. You find that you might be changing jobs more often than before which also comes with change of bosses. Even when you stay in the same company, chances are that, your boss might change following the previous boss’ contract ending. At other times, it is the so called Restructurings/Re-engineering exercises that can move you to a new boss or bring you a new boss.

Should it be a problem to change bosses? Well, on paper, it should not. It should be straight forward that you change the boss, and you start operating nicely with the new one. After all, changing here and there is what we do to spare parts of equipment and machinery and they work just fine. Well, human beings may however, not easily operate just like that.

In human nature and on the basis of the psychology Principle of Consistency, human beings may have a tendency to want to keep things consistent as in the past to a certain degree as this is the way our brains are wired. They could therefore considerably overtly or covertly resist change. When people get new bosses, they may psychologically be resistant to this change even though they know that there is little or nothing they can actually do about it.

Getting it Right with Boss Management

So, if Mother Nature for some reason or another handed you a wonderful gift of a new boss, what options are you really left with? Unfortunately, you have very few options, and resolving to start working very well with your new boss could simply be the most logical one or else you start digging your own grave slowly but sure. This of course may not apply if you have another plan in place to change jobs or quit to go out there and become a business owner as an entrepreneur.

With the foregoing therefore, here are some of the things you could consider.

(1). Your New Boss Is Not Your Old Boss

First things first, your new boss is not your old boss. They come with their own preferences, management styles, what they consider as hard work, and so on. It therefore means that, start adapting very fast to their style and do not be stuck in the old ways of doing things.

It is very important to remember that, you should never make the annoying reference to some previous ways of doing things with your old boss unless really necessary. Some people have a tendency to tell their new boss consciously or unconsciously that something has to be done this or that way because, “This is what we used to do with our former Boss Mr. XYZ”. That will helpfully get you fired nicely.

If there is need to refer to some previous way of doing things, shift the focus from the former boss as a Person to a Set of Procedures. You could say something like, “Previously, the procedure followed in cases of this nature was this and that.” People hate to be compared to others especially if it implies to some degree that the former was better. Just ask those who are dating or got married to divorced people or widow(er)s for instance, and how they felt when their partner started making a comparison of how the previous partner was better at doing this or that.

(2). Understand the New Boss’ Style

While it is not uncommon to want to resist change, it is only wise however that you change your mind-set and resolve to embrace the notion of working with a new boss well regardless of the circumstances that might be at play.

What that means is that, study your new boss with passion, understand their likes and dislikes, what makes them tick, and what makes them angry and so on. If they prefer face to face discussions over email, do it. If they prefer a one page Departmental Report with only final results figures rather than a flowery 10 pages of the processes and ways you used to achieve results, then do it.

It is important to remember that, even if the new or current boss might appear to be so difficult like the grandson of the devil himself, they are also human, and that means you can somehow get along. Whatever might be the case, change your view about your new boss and resolve to work closely with them and simply make the best out of the situation. Remember what John Wooden once said, "Things turn out the best for those who make the best out of the way things turn out.”

(3). Know Your Job Very Well

If there is something that might assist you in keeping your job in times of changing bosses, is your ability to do your job very well. You need to be or at least appear to be great with your job otherwise, new bosses sometimes might entertain the notion of firing you and ending up recruiting their own often called, “My own people”.

Remember that your new boss may not know you well and may not even fully understand what you do in the company or your value to the company. Now, this is where you play psychology, politics, or branding or whatever you may call it. What is being said here is that, Work Hard (WH) and Work Smart (WS). Having been in the field of Psychology for over 10 years now, it has come to be understood that simply using WH or WS exclusive of the other might be dangerous.

There are people who really work hard and are simply silent in the background (the WH). That approach unfortunately will simply guarantee you not being able to be promoted as you will be seen to be a non-managerial type. For the new boss also, they may see you as anti-social and less cooperative, and may not get a chance to understand you and the work you do better.

Then comes those who might work smart, finish their work on time, and are great at communication with bosses on their work (WS). As used here, this is not about bragging or blowing one’s own trumpet but simply and professionally communicating your work with your boss. In that way, the value of your work and your contributions to the organisation as a whole might be better understood and appreciated.

Remember that, success in the workplaces and with new bosses lies in Performance + Perception of Performance. You need both to survive. Therefore, do not just work without communicating (WH) or simply be a talker who knows how to create some perception that they are working when in fact not. You need to work hard and work smart, and success with your new boss might not be with too much ado.

In conclusion, it is important to remember that, to survive any work environment, be professional in your work, be great in your field, and strive to work well with others like your boss, your workmates, and clients as well. Over and above, invest in learning to understand yourself, and others. Let your value to the company be seen, and be appreciated.

The Author Owen K. Kabanda is a Zambian Business & Human Resources Advisor. Click here to go to his LinkedIn profile for more related articles and insights.