What Does Your Manager Want From You?

This may not be the answer they teach in business school but most managers want you to minimize their anxiety levels.? Yes, leadership is actually an exercise in anxiety management, and an important part of the job is to make sure that everyone is playing their role as you lead the team in the right direction. ? But when people don’t do their part, the system fails and one individual’s failure can throw the whole team off.? Then, the anxiety level shoots up because the bus is no longer on schedule or worse, headed in the wrong direction. ? So what are some things we can do to help managers with their anxiety management?

Be a fire-and-forget report. ? When a manager gives you a task, there is a clear expectation about the outcome. ? If that expectation is not met, your manager starts to get a little more anxious when the next task comes around. ? But if you get into the habit of delivering on those expectations, your manager is going to feel comfortable about assigning things to you and moving on. ? For instance, if a manager has to ask you about the status of a task twice, in my experience, that usually means they are not getting the updates or the results they want quickly or frequently enough. ? So make it a goal to never have them do that by setting clear expectations early and often, and of course, delivering on them. ? And if you become that “fire and forget” report,? you are likely to see even more opportunities come your way since you now have a strong track record of making problems go away quietly.

Anticipate their next move. ? Another thing that inspires even more confidence in a manager is a report’s ability to read their mind.? So Bef, we now need to be psychics too? ? Well, maybe!? I often talk to leaders, managers and ICs alike, about the capital T where you need to choose which part of your scope you need to go deep into, especially as your scope grows in breadth. ? With a larger scope, most reasonable managers will understand that you won’t have every answer at your fingertips.? However, one thing you can do to make yourself more dependable is to use the leading question from your manager as a cue to go a little deeper into that area when you have reason to believe it has become a focus for them. ? There have been many instances where my managers ask me questions I don’t know the answers to, but by the time they come back with follow-up questions, I’m ready because I have adjusted my T.

Now comes the fun part.? So what happens if you minimize your manager’s anxiety levels? ? Well, most managers are going to selfishly push even more things your way because you have clearly demonstrated that you can give them the space to focus on other areas. ? And that, folks, is the secret to growth.? If you are able to give your manager the confidence that you will take their mind off of even more things they are responsible for, you are very likely in line for some expansion of responsibilities. ? Conversely, if you are already dropping the ball, don’t expect them to make any moves that would only increase their anxiety levels even more.? So just try to be a no drama, anxiety reduction machine and I assure you good things will be coming your way.

This post is intended to be a playful take on management and does not speak for other managers.

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