 | #94 Leadership Corner - Making the most of your time!posted by Justin Barry, Group AdministratorFriday, September 30th 2011 @ 12:43 AM |
Leaders and Managers need to change their approach to time management! Time management studies make interesting reading as they always show every manager is spending too much time fire fighting! (dealing with the daily issues and emergencies around the office) and therefore not enough time thinking and planning for longer term.... So what are the important points to take on board:
Managing Your Boss
To get your life back you need to change your approach to self-management and setting expectations with your staff and management team. All of this starts with having a happy and supportive boss because if he is not, his failure may cast a negative light on everyone on his team. Many potentially great careers have been stalled, not because of the effort of the individual, but because of a boss who failed to make an impact and who failed to demonstrate the value of those on his team.
You need to move beyond your own needs and which is to examine your bosses' needs. Sounds straight foward...not quite because understanding those needs and figuring out what to do to meet them isn't usually easy!
Its not about meeting the boss's needs (doing exactly what the boss wants them to do, eg. accepting the boss's vision and direction...NO!) This demand a more serious and subtle analysis of explicit and implicit human needs.
Explicit needs are easier to understand as they may be announced by your boss whenever the team gets together and can be written as a list of goals that you work towards:
- We need to grow the business by 20% this year
- We need to reduce our operation costs by $4m
- We need .....
Implicit needs are more subtle and sometimes the boss may not even aware of them. Some examples would be:
- Make me look good in front of my boss and customers so I get recognition etc.
- Help me demonstrate my innovation and creativity by you coming up with some unique ideas for changing our marketing model to meet the business targets.
- Help me feel more like a leader by giving me the opportunity to show off the department in the company's end of year conference.
While explicit needs tend to run a linear path, implicit needs tend be random, triggered by emotion and circumstance.
From the first day you meet your new boss, you need to devote time and energy to scoping out his or her implicit needs and defining them with as much precision as possible. Then measure whatever you do against those needs. (Your boss certainly will.)
One obvious implicit need that every boss has is the need for confidence; He/She must have confidence that you are working in their best interest and that you are capable of delivering what he needs. Failing to maintain this confidence, your boss will most likely drive you crazy -- and will often drive you out.
So taking time to understand these needs will bring you success and give you back some time in the workplace.
Good luck folks!
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