Balance Points from the Team

Are You Clear About What Your Boss Wants?

04.17.18

In the last blog post, we explored the STaRS model as a tool to help you assess what phase various aspects of your organization are in right now. If you have used that information to help develop a situation analysis and a plan for your early win, congratulations on completing that important work!

I want to share an experience I had with Darrell, a client of mine who was in a similar position and thought he was ready to move forward:

 

Darrell had checked in with all of his company’s key stakeholders, customers and team members. In doing so he had gained a comprehensive understanding of the company’s priorities and had his three personal initiatives clearly defined and ready to go. But when he relayed these achievements to me there was something in his voice that gave me pause.

I looked him in the eye and asked him one simple question; “Do you know what Joe wants?” (Joe being Darrell’s boss and the CEO of the company.) There was a long silence, then Dave sighed and said, “I’m not sure.” Darrell wanted to know what to do and I suggested he follow the internal voice and feeling he was sensing right them.

He told me he was going to talk to Joe and the next time we met, his voice was different; calm and confident. Darrell knew what everyone wanted, including Joe, and he had a plan.

 

If the thought of asking your boss what he or she wants makes you uncomfortable, you are not alone. Many leaders feel like they should already know the answer. Others feel asking the question may undermine their take-charge stance. But, I can assure you that asking the question is well worth a little short-term discomfort. How you start the conversation is up to you, but I have a couple options for your consideration.

First, be transparent and tell your boss that you want to understand what his or her top two or three priorities are. Once those are revealed, you can see how they mesh with your plans and then adjust accordingly.

A second option is to walk throughall the work around your situation analysis with your boss and then ask for his or her perspective. Listen carefully, because the insight provided will be incredibly valuable.

However you choose to start the conversation, make sure you end it having answered that all-important question:

“What does my boss want?”

Your boss will likely be very pleased to have been asked and you will be armed with answers that help you successfully move forward.

 

Click here to learn more about Gary Halverson.

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