On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Get Along Better With Your Boss

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How to Get Along Better With Your Boss I thought the managers face would explode. I was at lunch with a high level finance executive the other day when his cell phone rang. He looked at the number displayed on the screen and his face turned beet red I think I even saw a couple of purple splotches mixed in. He let the call go to voicemail and his face color returned to normal after a few minutes. Everything OK? I asked. My employees are going to kill me, he said. Theyre driving me crazy. Since Ive written a book about how employees drive their bosses crazy, I couldnt resist pursuing more questions. After a while he shared a story about an employee who constantly called or texted him, reporting some perceived misdeed in the office. Other employees continually griped about what they didnt have, always giving the impression that whatever he did for them wasnt enough. The executive told me that he wondered if employees ever realized how much additional stress they piled on him. He said that he was never off the clock, often putting in 14-hour days, working weekends and receiving emails from his boss at 2 a.m. While he knew that stress was part of his job, he told me that he felt like a non-person in the eyes of his employees who seemed to think nothing of dumping even the most trivial problems on him. Sometimes workers believe that whatever the boss is going through can never be as bad as what theyre experiencing, and often make no attempt to put themselves in the bosss shoes. Managers often are blamed for everything from diminishing health benefits to broken snack machines. But they can get just as discouraged and feel just as unappreciated as any other employee theyre just not supposed to show it. However, learning to show a little appreciation for the job a boss does can pay off in a number of ways, not the least of which is a better relationship between you and your boss. While you dont want to be a total suck-up, theres nothing wrong with showing a little compassion for what the boss goes through every day and respecting him as a person. me ways to score points with the boss and make both of you feel good include: Sending the boss a thank-you note.Make sure you send a note thanking the boss if you get...(read the rest here.)