Ed. Note. This concludes Share the Podium Month here at WWDS. I appreciate the extra time and effort expended by the authors and leaders who shared their insights and thoughts with all of us. In the upcoming week, time permitting, I will do a one post-recap of all of them. I hope you have taken the time to find out more about each contributor. This final one is special because, as a baby boomer, managing and leading younger generations has been something near, even dear, to my heart. Bruce Tulgan is the expert in the field and I am pleased to present an original article for WWDS readers. Plus….his new book on Generation Y…Not Everyone Gets a Trophy…has the best title like, ever, dude.

HELP YOUR BOSS MANAGE YOU

By Bruce Tulgan

If you have a job, I’ll bet you have a boss, or maybe two or three or four.
And I’ll bet you answer to different people on different days depending on
exactly what you are doing that day. Right? Of course, every boss is
different. The problem is that you are forced to depend on your boss(es) in
bt_speaking order to succeed and get your needs met in the workplace. how can you manage
your relationships with your boss(es) at work in order to do a great job, be
successful, and get what you need and want out of the experience?

THE FIRST PERSON YOU HAVE TO MANAGE EVERY DAY IS YOURSELF
Make sure you are taking good care of yourself outside of work so that you
are bringing your very best to work. Arrive a little early. Stay a little
late. And while you are at work, you should be all about the work. YOUR
WORK, that is. Focus on playing the role assigned to YOU before you ever try
to reach beyond that role. Focus on your tasks, your responsibilities, your
projects. Focus on doing them very well, very fast all day long. If you
really want to carry weight with your boss, that should be your primary
focus at work every step of the way.

ASK YOURSELF EVERY DAY: “WHO ARE MY BEST CUSTOMERS RIGHT NOW?”
Supervisory relationships in today’s workplace are constantly shifting. You
need to start every single day by asking yourself, “Who am I working for
right now?”

Think about what’s going to work best for each boss and with each boss. What
do you know about this boss and her style and preferences? What do you want
to accomplish as a result of increased dialogue with this boss? What
guidance and direction do you need? What time is this boss usually most
available and most approachable? When you meet, you should be very prepared.
Have a clear agenda with a small number of points you want to cover. And do
your homework. If you want guidance, go in with a preliminary plan. If you
have questions, try to have a few suggested answers for each question
thought out already.

With each boss, regardless of each boss’s different style and preferences,
you need to figure out how to get the four basics:

One. Clearly spelled out and reasonable expectations. That means clear goals
with specific guidelines and a concrete timetable.

Two. The natural ability and the skills and tools and resources necessary to
accomplish those expectations or else the acknowledgement that you are being
asked to achieve those expectations without the natural ability or the
skills or tools or resources that you need.

Three. Accurate and honest feedback about your performance as well as
course-correcting direction when necessary.

Four. The fair quid pro quo—recognition and rewards—in exchange for your
performance.

MAKE TIME EVERY DAY TO MANAGE YOUR BOSS(ES)
Make time every day (or every other day or once a week) to manage your
boss(es) and to be managed. Whether your boss (or bosses) realizes it or
not, you still need to build a regular management dialogue together. So take
the initiative. Schedule a regular management meeting with your boss.
Remember, one-on-one meetings are where all the action is.

CHECKLISTS AND DEADLINES ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS
Keep the focus on concrete actions within your control. Break big goals into
smaller goals with time budgets. Break smaller goals into concrete steps.
Break each step into to-do-items on a checklist. And beg for deadlines.
Remember, ‘asap’ means nothing! ‘Whenever you can get it done’ means
nothing! ‘It’s not urgent’ means nothing! Break big timelines into
intermediate benchmarks. Break intermediate benchmarks into short-term time
budgets. Break short-term time budgets into day-by-day or hour-by-hour
schedules.

THERE’S NO ACCOUNTABILITY IF YOU ONLY HAVE TO ANSWER TO YOURSELF
Keep track of everything you do in writing. Take detailed notes in every one
of your management meetings with your boss. Prepare in writing in advance of
each meeting and make some notes to yourself after each meeting. As you
accomplish your work, keep a diary of your accomplishments. Keep a time log
of how you spend your time each day, hour by hour. Every step of the way,
stop and take note as you complete your work. Get in the habit of giving an
account of your performance, verbally and in writing.

BE PREPARED TO GO THE EXTRA MILE IF YOU WANT SPECIAL REWARDS
Don’t make requests lightly and they won’t be taken lightly. If you want to
ask for a special reward, ask in the form of a proposal. Always include in
any proposal you make the following information: What is the benefit of what
you are proposing? What’s in it for your boss? What’s in it for the team?
What’s in it for the organization? What’s in it for the customer? What steps
will be necessary to accomplish what you propose? How can it be accomplished
with a minimum cost and very little chance of something going wrong? What
resources will be needed and where do you think they can be obtained?

Bruce Tulgan (New Haven, CT) is internationally recognized as the leading
expert on young people in the workplace. He is an advisor to business
leaders all over the world, the author or coauthor of numerous books
including the classic MANAGING GENERATION X (1995) and the recent
best-seller IT’S OKAY TO BE THE BOSS (2007). Since founding the management
training firm RainmakerThinking in 1993, he has been a sought-after keynote
speaker and seminar leader. Tulgan’s work has been the subject of thousand
of news stories around the world and he has written for dozens of
publications including the New York Times, USA Today, Human Resources
Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. He also holds a fourth degree
black belt in Okinawan Karate and is married to Debby Applegate who won the
2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Tulgan’s weekly video newsletter is
available for free at rainmakerthinking.