
There are as many kinds of bosses as there are breeds of dog or Americans. Basically infinite.
The first step is to understand your boss.
- What are his/her key goals, fears and problems ?
- What is he/she like as a person: calm, wroth, happy, insecure, proud, ambitious, trusting, greedy, disrespectful, fair ?
- How does he/she handle pressure: the really tough situations, decisions, and results ?
The second step is to decide what you want from your boss.
More recognition, less micro-management, more authority, more support, more direction, less hostility…? Understand that if you don’t consciously manage your boss, they will manage you… In this case it really is a zero-sum game. One partner has to be the case officer and one has to be the agent.
Finally, map a strategy to get what you want, “put in the controls” and then carefully operate the simple system you’ve created.
And how do you “put in the controls” ? Ah, Grasshopper, that is for another day.