We all have bosses. We all have to serve somebody. (Even Bob Dylan...) Partners, financiers, vendors, stakeholders, customers, employees, and yes, pets, children and our spouses all serve as our bosses. If you feel the need to posture around this statement, or giggle sarcastically, it's ok. But your first step is to admit this. And then proceed here: We all succeed to the extent we serve our bosses.
The trick is what do they, our bosses, want?
Chris Brogan answered that question in his August newsletter with What Our Bosses Need Most:
A boss needs actionable solutions. Bringing problems to the boss is a mess. Bring the identification of a problem to the boss, but also bring your ideas and your intentions for solving the issue.
It is hard to describe the delight I received as a boss when this happened. And it's hard to describe the delight in my bosses eyes when I did the same for them. This simple step offers a thrill of delight, satisfaction and it ends with greater confidence in trust in you, or me if I was the one delivering this experience.
A boss needs brevity. - Bullets and numbers and simple sentences are your friend. This gives the boss a chance to get a bird's eye view fast.
A boss needs you to have two perspectives. - The sooner you can learn how to see the game from both your spot in the trenches and from a potential leadership point of view, the sooner you can deliver even more value to the operation.
Chris ended with the call-to-action to work on these three for a month. Chris is a kind and gentle man. Let's cut to the chase. Work on these for the rest of our lives! We all succeed to the extent we serve someone and to the extent we serve their needs. These three simple steps...will make a huge difference.
Note: I'm going to work especially hard on the brevity thing.
And if you're not ready to take these three steps or even admit you have a boss in your life, cool. Do yourself one favor: subscribe to Chris Brogan's newsletter. After awhile, you'll understand.
Or follow Chris Brogan on Twitter.
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