KNOWING WHAT OTHERS EXPECT FROM YOU IS A BIG ADVANTAGE

Career Coaching:

Understanding the different expectations held by your boss, your direct reports and your peers is crucial to achieving career success.

That’s the word from Bill Neale, a founding partner of Denison Consulting, a firm dedicated to studying the link between organizational culture and leadership to bottom line results.

Here’s a quick summary of research conducted by Denison:

The boss expects you to set and achieve strategy and objectives that support the long-term mission of the organization. “You can be the greatest team player in the world, or a wonderful ‘people person,’ but if you ignore the mission of your organization you’ll never satisfy the boss,” declares Neale.

Your direct reports expect you to promote teamwork, delegate authority and responsibility, as well as encourage personal development to reach career goals. Neale says getting direct reports involved, motivated and committed is crucial. “If you don’t truly engage the folks who work for you, you won’t win a vote of confidence from them, and you’re not likely to fully leverage their energies and talents.”

Peers expect you to be adaptable and consistent, and committed to the organization’s principles and values. Organizational peers are a difficult group to satisfy. “They may have less information about you, or view you as a competitor,” Neale says. “Peers, however, do place a high value on flexibility, the ability to surmount organizational boundaries and constraints, and to push alignment in the workplace.”

Neale says organizations are complex and demanding. Each is unique, so there is no simple formula for assuring personal career success. “If you’re serious about succeeding, however, the first order of business is to become familiar with the various expectations—both spoken and unspoken—you need to satisfy.”

I wish you career success!

Ramon Greenwood, Head Career Coach
Common Sense At Work