Influencing Up

CHAPTER 8

The Art—and Responsibility—of Helping Your Boss Succeed

As a junior partner, there are many payoffs to helping your boss succeed:

• It increases the chance of the unit/organization being successful (because there are at least two of you on the task).
• You grow your competencies as you take on more challenging work.
• It means that your boss is more likely to move on to newer and better things, opening up the possibility for you to do the same.
• You build a “line of credit” that you can use to allow you to have the opportunities and autonomy to be successful.
• You develop a reputation for being committed to more than personal advancement—which has a positive effect outside your area.

Helping your boss implies that you have influence—and direct reports usually have more influence than they first think, because they command more currencies than they realize. There are many things that your manager needs from you. In addition to performing your assigned responsibilities, you can be the source of new ideas, take initiative to resolve problems before they grow, be a sounding board, and recognize new opportunities.

Taking on Some of the Boss’s Tasks

Decisions are made too high in the hierarchy in most organizations. One reason is that managers bring along the tasks they are comfortable with at a lower position as they climb onto the next rung on the ladder. Although these tasks may be easy to complete, they lack the excitement and growth that would occur if someone one or two levels ...