Most employees go out of their way to avoid their supervisors, even if their supervisors are nice and easy to work for. Supervisors who are difficult and hard to work for are often avoided like the plague. The main reason that supervisors, even nice ones, tend to be avoided is they are subconsciously viewed as scary people like police officers or judges. We try to stay out of their away and avoid contact with them - and most of us don’t go to them unless we are required to do so. The problem with this attitude is it can cripple our career advancement.
Many employees think that their bosses know they are working their behinds off and doing a good job. They think this is enough to get them noticed and to put them in a good position for future advancement. The truth is if you go around quietly doing your job, you can get lost in the shuffle. Someone who isn’t quite as exceptional as you may get promoted before you simply because they keep their supervisors abreast of what is happening, they demonstrate a willingness to engage in conversation and be a team player and they keep themselves out-there and seen.
Avoiding the boss is one of the worst mistakes that people make on the job. If you are going out of your way to stay off your supervisor’s radar, the chances are high that you will eventually be viewed as someone who is dispensable, not someone that he/she can’t live without. Until the day you are out of the work force you have to continue to sell yourself. You have to market yourself to keep yourself in your current position and to keep the door open for a promotion down the road.
So, how do you sell yourself? First, you have to start viewing yourself as a product or business and your supervisor as your customer - your most important customer. Second, think outside the box. Put yourself in your supervisor’s position. What is he/she trying to do? What is his/her current goal? What can you do to help his/her success?
By focusing on your supervisor’s needs instead of your own, you are displaying customer service. This doesn’t mean that you become the boss’s pet or give him/her unwarranted attention or flattery. If you are a product or business and your supervisor is your customer, how is he/she going to know what you have to offer if you don’t advertise? If you want your career to advance you have to show your supervisor that you are interested in meeting needs and that you are capable of tweaking your skills and duties to help him/her meet those goals.
Take every opportunity that comes along to send your supervisor the message that you are capable and able. Whether you are having a sit-down meeting or passing him/her in the hallway, always have something to say that makes you appear that you are on top of things. However, don’t oversell yourself or it’ll become obvious that you are trying to get on your supervisor’s good side. If it’s obvious that your supervisor has something very important on his/her mind or is engaged in a conversation with another employee, don’t interrupt. Opportunities to talk with your supervisor will occur naturally if you don’t go out of your way to avoid him/her.
Lastly, keep in mind that it isn’t just how you are viewed by your supervisor that determines whether you’ll get selected for the next promotion. How you are viewed by your peers and your boss’s peers will have a lot to do with it. What people say about you will influence your boss’s decisions about what to do with you. While you may seem like an eager, intelligent and genuinely nice person to your boss, if he/she continually hears something different from the work crowd, it can influence their decisions about your future.
Make sure you treat people with respect, that you are someone who is approachable and nice and that you keep yourself free of office gossip. If you keep yourself on the boss’s radar and he/she hears a consistently positive message from everyone about you, this will assure them that you are indeed genuine, well liked and someone who can be trusted with a higher position in the company.
Recommended Reading
For more information and advice on managing your bos, take a look at the following books:
Manage Your Boss: 8 Steps to Creating the Ideal Working Relationship
How to Manage Your Boss: Developing the Perfect Working Relationship
Managing Up: How to Forge an Effective Relationship With Those Above You
Navigating Your Career: Develop Your Plan, Manage Your Boss, Get Another Job
Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job
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