Work tips from a USNews "expert"—an ADDer's take

[Wgreen]

A few items from “Ten Things Your Boss Isn’t Telling You” by Allison Green (no relation); “Things that your boss might be too uncomfortable to say to you:”

Number ONE on the list:

“1. You talk too much in meetings. Before you take up the group’s time at the next meeting, ask yourself whether everyone there really needs to hear what you’re about to say.”

—Oooops!

“3. You’re too emotional. If you routinely get upset, offended, or angry, your boss might dread giving you critical feedback, to the point of avoiding it altogether–which will put you at a huge disadvantage. You want to know what you could be doing better, and you’re more likely to hear it if you don’t make it difficult for your boss to tell you.”

—Okay, maybe. Sometimes.

But here’s my favorite: (Ya gotta be able to speak some Canadian/International English on this site) Drum roll please…

“10. You don’t need to agree so much. Good bosses want to hear differing opinions. If you can tell that you’re on a different page than your boss–about a project, how realistic a deadline is, or the best way to deal with a difficult client–don’t ignore that difference. Bringing your different outlooks to the surface and explicitly talking about it may reveal that one of you has information that the other doesn’t have, which can result in one of you changing your stance. Plus, if you stay silent and it turns out later that you were right, your boss may be irked that you didn’t tell her about the case for proceeding differently.”

—Well, would that this were true! ADDers would all be flying up the corporate ladder. We may have trouble finding the page, but when we do, it’s usually a different one. Let’s see a show of hands: how many of you have had your butt kicked for telling a supervisor (tactfully) s/he was completely up the spout, for perfectly sound reasons? And how many have gotten a promotion and free steak dinner? Alright, I’ll count the hands and get back to you…

In my experience, the two things most ADDers can bring to the table—unusual insights and innovative solutions—are things most bosses, for some reason, DON’T want to hear. Not really… UNLESS, perhaps, the boss is a CEO who cares more about the business than in not rocking the boat or making a “mistake.” But who am I to argue with HR experts?

Full article at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Things-Your-Boss-Isnt-usnews-493657782.html?x=0

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[cakat01]

I read that same article. I thought the same about the last item. Managers and bosses say they want to hear other opinions. However, they always find something negative in whatever someone suggests and go with whatever they thought in the first place.

#1 and #10 contradict each other. My last boss held meetings where he did 99% of the talking. But if it was a meeting where he asked for everyone’s input…ideas were dismissed. I was excited when I started that job and spoke up in meetings. I didn’t monopolize the meetings, but got in trouble for saying anything. While I hadn’t been there long, I do have years of experience working in various industries and areas. I finally stopped speaking in meetings unless I had to.

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