Make Your Boss Look Good - Part 1: What Does Your Boss Value?

Do you ever feel that your boss, your colleagues, your company, don't really value what you bring to the job? You work hard, you're smarter than most yet others seem to get promoted before you, get better projects or, what is for me the worst, get positive praise and accolades when their true performance and value to the organization is pretty weak. This is something that I have grappled with for my entire professional career - I line everyone up including myself on my values scale and a lot of folks who are doing quite well, don't seem to measure up. How frustrating! The boss' pet...not as smart, I can run circles around them - I complete double the amount of work in the same amount of time. The boss' pet...instead of doing work is kissing the boss' a** instead of getting the work done. Do you feel me?

I have explained away colleagues' elevated status in the most flippant and naive ways over the years and it was not until I moved into a management position where I begin to really understand what some of my colleagues had done well and what I had failed to do.

I believe that some of my colleagues who seemed be progressing or enjoying greater success understood what our boss valued and I either didn't bother to figure it out or I thought my values made more sense...

Consider in your own situation:

• What is most important to your boss? I know someone just gave a flippant, sarcastic answer! Now get to the real and right answer - consider what your boss says constantly in staff meetings, what they write to you by e-mail. It might be reputation, it might be slow and consistent growth, it might be not having any surprises.
• Then I want to consider what you value - it might be being right, it might be innovation, it might be contributing to important decisions for your department.
• Then consider whether the two align - is there a disconnect between your respective values? Is your zealous pursuit of your values undercutting what is important to your manager?

Now if your values do not align you have a few choices:

1. you can keep doing what you are doing and keep getting the same result,
2. you can leave and try to find a manager at another company whose values align with yours...good luck with that,
3. you can adapt.

I'll take Door #3, Bob! Yes, let's try adapting. I am not saying that you sell your values and your soul to the devil to get ahead, but instead that you try to first find a little common ground and then build from there. What does your boss value that actually makes sense to you? How might you highlight that in your discussions or your work?


Action Step (yes, you have to do a little work on this one): as you consider what your manager values, do one thing today that aligns with his/her values. For example, if your manager hates surprises and you suspect that in the coming weeks something might come up that will be less than favorable, instead of standing there with your lip stuck out thinking that if he is the manager, he should know or that the boss's pet should tell him, draft an e-mail to your manager highlighting your concerns and ask for his feedback. (Note: don't bring it up in a meeting with the entire team, but instead find a discrete way to give your manager a heads up. This is your first step in the new 'boss-aligned' you. You don't want to be perceived as undercutting the boss or showing off.)