We often think of our boss as someone who we report to or who sits back and judges our performance at the time of appraisal. Abhishek TR, a United Breweries Limited (UBL) executive, however, has a different take on managers and what your relationship should be like with them.
Abhishek, who has previously worked with the FMCG major Procter & Gamble (P&G) said in a recent LinkedIn post that during his last assignment with the company he got opportunities to interact with top leaders – those that have built strong brands. He recounted his experiences and said one such interaction was on how employees could “manage our managers.”
He added that in the early stages of their career, people tend to look at their managers as someone they report to or as someone sitting there to judge and analyse their performance. Abhishek further noted that while this is a part of the managers’ responsibilities, the truth of the matter is that the objectives of bosses and our roles overlap and the bosses’ objectives won’t be met if you do not perform at your best.
Abhishek underlined, “Some managers make it clear to the team but most don’t and that’s where the friction arises.” Going ahead, the UBL executive laid down three points that can come in handy when dealing with your boss on a day-to-day basis.
These points are thinking of your manager as a counterpart and not a boss, aligning your manager with your top priorities and bringing your manager down from a pedestal and looking at him/her as a human being. “Your manager is human and is learning how to manage people the same way you’re learning how to do your job. The way they handle you might not always be perfect but he/she is evolving. You might have worked with managers at different stages of these evolutions so don’t be fast to judge them."
Also read: How this Yale University graduate landed a job with World Bank and then with IMF