You need a “knock the socks off” plan if you want to consistently impress your manager and be rewarded for doing so. You may impress them by accident on occasion, but hit and miss success won’t earn you the brass ring in the long run.
Your plan should contain these 10 elements if you want to stand out, be noticed and take your career to the next level.
Top 10 actions to take:
1. Do your homework on your manager. Know them on a deeper level than anyone else on your team. Research their background, career successes (and missteps), personal brand and any other insights you can discover that no one else might know. With this detailed personal profile, only you will have the fuel to consistently impress them.
2. Know the strategic game plan of your organization intimately. Your manager’s performance rating is based on what they deliver to support the overall strategy, and if you understand this you are in a strong and unique position to continually dazzle them. If you are their “partner” in helping their team deliver strategic results, you will not only impress them, you will be an indispensable asset.
3. Look for opportunities to do each assigned task differently than what they expect. Ask yourself “How can I achieve my objective differently than anyone else?” Stepping out of crowd behavior will definitely impress.
4. Deliver what is expected of you 24x7x365. You can’t knock their socks off if you don’t meet your basic job expectations consistently. Dependable performance establishes a trust and comfort bond with them that will earn you the right to more degrees of freedom than anyone else on your team.
5. Step out of your job description. Show irreverence for official boundaries when it comes to delivering results. “It’s not my job” destroys company value and doesn’t impress anyone.
6. Participate in organizational programs they are interested in. Volunteer and exploit yourself. Invest your personal time and energy in what they personally covet and places on top of their priority list.
7. Be the “poster child” for the engaged employee. Every organization wants to enhance employee engagement. Lead the effort to enhance greater engagement of every person on your team.
8. Surprise them with what they don’t expect. Hell-bent impressions are created by WOW! experiences. Go beyond their expectations; they will not forget what you did and your currency will skyrocket.
9. Build your network internally and externally around the competencies your organization requires executing its strategy. If they view you as connected and having access to valuable skills and expertise resources, you will win their loyalty.
10. Be the consummate team player. Share any praise you get with members of your team. Spread the glory and you gain power. They know who delivers.
If your “knock their socks off” plan has these 10 elements I guarantee you will be sitting in your boss’ chair sooner than you expect.
I know. It worked for me.
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