How You Relate With Your Boss Can Make Or Break Your Career

By Perminus Wainaina

What sort of a relationship do you have with your boss? As an employee, you do not really have to be friends with your boss but you do need to have a good relationship with them.

This is one of the most important determinants of your success at the organization.

Having a good professional relationship with your manager can determine the kind of projects you’re given to work on, your career advancement as well as your reputation in the industry. This means that you need to put in extra effort to ensure you have a respectable and productive relationship with your supervisor.

Remember that you will leave the organization at some point and you will have to put your supervisor down as a reference, if you had a good relationship they will help you out, however, if not they can as well give you a bad reputation.

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Here are some reasons why your relationship with your boss can make or break your career

  1. Promotions

When an organization is considering who to promote, they usually as the direct supervisors to recommend someone they think deserves it. This means that, when your boss knows you, your work ethic and what you do for the organization then you will be at the fore front when they are thinking of who to recommend.

However, if you do not have any sort of relationship with your boss, then you will not come up in the discussion which will, in turn, mean you lose out on the promotion.

  1. Better working environment

Your relationship with your immediate supervisor will influence workplace stress, meaning that by having a good relationship with them you will always look forward to going to work every day. However, if it’s the opposite then you will always dread going to work which will have a negative impact on productivity.

For example, a sales person who is not enthusiastic about the product they are selling won’t be able to make a lot of sales but someone who loves what they are doing and is passionate about the product will definitely make more sales.

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So how do you ensure that they have a good relationship with your boss?

  1. Set up meetings

You cannot have a relationship with your boss if you never see them so it is important that you take the initiative to set up monthly meetings by approaching their secretary or going to them directly depending on the company culture.

Depending on the size of the organization it might be difficult for your boss to know each employee and what they do. So it is up to you to tell them.

  1. Demonstrate  Initiative

Now that you have set up a meeting with your boss, use that time to talk to your boss about your ideas and suggestions that will improve the company.

Do not be afraid to showcase your ideas as it will show your boss that you are invested in the success of the company which will improve your relationship and will be good for your career growth.

Take for example Ann and Judy both working at the same level with similar qualifications in the same organization. Judy provides working solutions for the organization and comes up with new ideas while the Ann just does her job albeit well.

Judy will definitely have a better chance at getting promoted and being given bigger tasks. This means she gets to grow her career faster than the Ann who didn’t make an effort to come up with new ideas.

  1. Go for open communication.

It scary to even think about telling your boss he/she is wrong. However, you were hired because you have a certain skill that they may not have. This means, that some ideas they come up with might not work.

The trick is learning how to point this out to your boss without losing face or favor. The best way is to do it in private and you politely tell them that you don’t think their idea will work and suggest alternatives.

A boss who appreciates your input and puts the organization first will be glad you spoke up and you will earn their respect. This means your ideas will always be taken into consideration which is a win in terms of your career development.

  1. Remember your boss is human too

I know this might be difficult to remember at times because most employees see their boss as someone who just pays their salaries. However, it is important to remember that they are human beings too and it is not a crime to ask them how their weekend was or something like that.

It might seem like an insignificant question and one that is completely unrelated to your job but it will open communication between you and will create a rapport that will help provide a good working environment.

You do not have to become best friends but a good working environment will allow you to learn and grow in your career.

The whole point of building a good relationship with your boss is not to suck up and gain unfair favoritism but is it to ensure that you both benefit from a good working environment that will contribute to your career growth as well as that of the company.

Suggested Article: 5 Proven Hacks to Obtaining a Promotion At Your Workplace

Perminus Wainaina is a Certified HR Consultant, Career Coach and Managing Partner of Corporate Staffing Services, a leading recruitment firm in Kenya. As a career coach, Perminus works with experienced professionals in helping them determine and achieve what they want in their career  Click here for more on career coaching.

 

13 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing the article, the information is so enlightening. we need more of this…

  2. I have loved every bit of these tips. Looks like i may be the greatest beneficiary….

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