Page 99 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

84 Just Promoted!

of business, the clients he had developed, and the product lines he had devel-
oped. She did not adequately appreciate that authority is delegated by one’s supe-
rior and that her performance directly affected her boss’s performance.
You need to work through your boss. Meet regularly. Keep the meetings
brief and to the point. Make sure you come prepared, with an agenda. List the
milestones achieved, things you are working on, pending decisions and
choices, and problems and recommendations. Solicit your boss’s feedback and
advice, and really listen. Don’t agree and then not follow through. Involve your
boss, especially in the parts of your job that will make him or her shine or
would otherwise be areas of vulnerability.
Determine to build your career, in part, through your excellent perform-
ance and also through your collaboration and support and teamwork with
your boss and other key stakeholders. When appropriate, ask to be included
at lunch with his or her peers or with influential others. Ask your boss to nom-
inate you for corporate committees or for special assignments and task forces
where you can gain some corporate visibility.
Joe had built an excellent relationship with his boss. In turn, Joe’s reputa-
tion in the company grew through the good efforts of his boss, Mattie. Mattie
had him appointed to important corporate committees, important accounts,
important products, and significant new product development efforts. Mattie
always felt she could rely on Joe to represent her interests, to keep her
informed, to follow her counsel. But as Joe matured, developed his own net-
work and his own corporate constituency, he became less and less part of Mat-
tie’s inbox and depended less on Mattie for help and direction. When Joe
finally took an independent stand on an important policy issue that was
directly contradictory to Mattie’s, the relationship was damaged, and Mattie’s
support receded. Joe now had to be strong enough to stand on his own, as
Mattie’s peer, or to seek a new employer. He was no longer a part of Mattie’s
world, and that part of his career had ended. Within a few months Joe had
joined a competitor. As long as you are dependent on your boss, you must stay
close to his or her thinking. When you show independence, you had better be
prepared to stand on your own.

In this chapter, we stressed the importance of working well with your boss
and helping your boss to be a success. Pay attention to these points through-
out your first year, especially in the first few months after you begin your
new position. It is then that you have the opportunity to start off smoothly