Setting out to please your boss is not about kissing up or opening up yourself to ridicule. When your goal is to make your manager more successful, rather than just thinking about your own success, you will grow as a member of the team and as a professional, especially if you are just beginning your career.
One of the fundamental rules of employment is that you are there to make a business successful. The best employees do whatever is needed, with a great attitude, so that everyone can prosper together.
Gradually you will learn a lot about what it takes to become a successful leader, expanding your skill set in the process. Should you set out to aid the business, then your boss may also become your mentor and advocate, which will present you with more opportunities.
Know The Company’s Targets
As an employee, it is easy to become solely focused on your own goals, and to forget about everyone else within the business. With greater understanding of the whole organisation you can have more influence and make your manager’s life a lot easier.
Sit down with your manager and discuss their goals and priorities to see if there is anything you can do that can better support them. Once you understand their aims, you will be able to tailor your performance to best support their success.
Think For Yourself
It may sound a little cold, but nobody really wants to babysit an employee. Everyone else will have work they need to do so you cannot keep loading your problems on to them. Before you start, make sure you do your research – do some background reading on what you will be doing and prepare any questions beforehand.
You can then save your time communicating with managers and fellow employees for building relationships or discussing work that may require collaborations – allowing you to prove your worth as an employee.
Solve Problems, Do Not Make Them
An employee that offers solutions to problems is invaluable, but one that constantly points out issues that arise without an alternative can become incredibly frustrating.
If a challenge arises do not go and speak to your manager and highlight the issue immediately. Instead, see if there is anything that you can do to try and solve or improve the situation first – sitting down and discussing the subject with whoever is causing the issue may prove to be more successful than you think.
If you’re a graduate looking to kick-start your career, have a chat with Discovery Graduates and see how they can help get you started
