OR Manager - November 2018 - 16

'Managing up' strengthens the bond with your boss
Leadership
W
hat kind of relationship do
you have with your boss?
Many managers feel
they
don't have enough support from their
supervisors, and still others believe
the relationship could be better. In the
2018 OR Manager Salary/Career Survey,
for example, about a third of respondents
had a neutral or unfavorable
view of support from their immediate
supervisor, which suggests there's
room for improvement.
" Managing up " is one way to foster
an effective bond with your boss. " Managing
up is about you taking charge of
your workplace experience, " says Mary
Abbajay, author of Managing Up: How to
Move up, Win at Work, and Succeed with
Any Type of Boss.
Managing up starts with being a
good follower and assessing your boss
(and yourself), and then taking steps
to build and nurture the relationship. It
also means taking action when faced
with a " difficult " boss. Being proactive
will help bolster your career and improve
the work environment.
Benefits of followership
A lot of research has focused on dissecting
the nature of leadership,
whereas followership languishes in its
shadow. A Google search for " leadership "
returns 1,950,000,000 results,
compared to 896,000 for " followership. "
But
as Abbajay points out, everyone
has a boss, and even a chief executive
officer is a follower. " We are all following
and leading at the same time, " she
says. A good follower isn't a sycophant,
but rather someone who plays an active
role in a relationship.
" I like to reframe followership from
that of a power hierarchy to a relationship, "
Abbajay says. " It's understanding
how you can work better with those who
are in charge or are above you in a way
that is good for you, the organization,
and the patients. "
Part of a successful relationship
means being adaptable and under16
OR
Manager | November 2018
Assess your own
work style and that
of your boss.
standing that people, including your
boss, may have priorities, preferences,
and pet peeves that differ from your
own. " You need to understand what you
can and cannot change about the relationship, "
Abbajay says. " Being adaptable
and flexible will help you be effective
in your job and your career. " It will
also help mold you into someone that
others want to work for.
How can you build a better relationship
with your boss? It starts with a
step familiar to all nurses: Assess.
Assess the boss-and yourself
Mary Abbajay
Abbajay identifies four
common work style personalities
that are similar
to the four social
styles: driving, expressive,
analytical, and
amiable (for more information
about social
styles, see https://www.tracomcorp.
com/social-style-training/model). Although
people may have elements of all
four, they tend to gravitate to one dominant
style (sidebar at right).
Assess your own style, not just your
boss's, to gain great insights into the
relationship. For example, knowing that
your boss has a " harmonizer " work
style personality, whereas you are an
" advancer, " will help you anticipate feeling
frustrated when your boss doesn't
act fast enough to suit you, and you will
be better able to temper your response.
In addition to work style personality,
consider the differences in priorities,
communication preferences, generations,
and pet peeves between your
boss and yourself (see related article,
" Cross-generational communication: A
two-way street, " on p 20). Referring to
A sense of style
Below are summaries of the four work
style personalities. For more detail,
refer to Managing Up: How to Move
up, Win at Work, and Succeed with
Any Type of Boss, by Mary Abbajay.
➤ The advancer-focuses on tasks,
actions, and achieving results.
This person is efficient, determined,
and pragmatic, but can
be insensitive, dictatorial, and
impatient.
➤ The energizer-the typical " people
person " who is good at motivating
people and developing and selling
ideas. This person is persuasive,
extroverted, and imaginative,
but can be impulsive, unrealistic,
and undisciplined.
➤ The evaluator-values accuracy,
precision, and facts. This person
is logical, systematic, and quality
oriented, but can be dogmatic,
inflexible, and critical.
➤ The harmonizer-sees the
workplace climate as highly
important and wants people to
be successful and happy. This
person is helpful, agreeable, and
diplomatic, but can be indecisive,
gullible, and too laid-back.
pet peeves, Abbajay recommends asking
yourself: " What am I willing to let go
of to get the job done? "
Being honest and objective in your
self-assessment can be harder than you
think-psychologist Tasha Eurich found
that 95% of people think they're selfaware,
but only 10% to 15% really are.
Consider seeking input from trusted
colleagues to ensure a more accurate
assessment.
Creating the bond
Communication is fundamental in creating
a relationship with a new boss and
maintaining its effectiveness. " I don't
think you can over-communicate, " says
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OR Manager - November 2018

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