Managing up

Were you among the hundreds of thousands of passengers recently stranded when American Airlines grounded more than 3,000 flights in less than a week? If yes, I can tell you who to credit, yes, credit — Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters. Never heard of them? Well, you should have, for they have done no less […]

You already know that winning depends in no small part on hiring people better than yourself. If you are a youngish entrepreneur or boss, that will entail hiring older and more experienced people, especially in top roles for your organization. Managing a colleague with ten or fifteen more years of experience than you can present […]

In the movie Office Space — a comedy about work life in a typical 1990s software company — the protagonist, Peter Gibbons, has eight different bosses. All of them, seemingly unaware of each other, pass by his desk and tell him what to do. While the film is most certainly a satire, for some, it […]

Don’t dwell on your differences.

Seek to understand your boss as a whole person. Learn as much as you can about your boss's life goals, beliefs, and cultural background.

You and your boss play key roles in each other's success. Take the initiative in managing this important relationship by getting to know your boss well...

One of my early mentors used the word “approbation” frequently. I don’t hear it much these days, but he spoke often of having “approbation” for colleagues, particularly young people whom he “had time for,” whose views he valued enough to consider thoughtfully. The dictionary defines “approbation” as “an expression of warm approval” and emphasizes that […]

But there are ways to make your boss more open to listening.

What's the key to success with new bosses? Know your boss's communication style and exactly what is expected from you.

One of the driving principles of the Harvard Business Review/McKinsey M-Prize for Management Innovation is that everyone wins when everyone shares. We believe that people are experimenting with radical management practices all over the world in every kind of organization at every level and too many of them are wrestling with the system in isolation. […]

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Six strategies to help you set boundaries without burning bridges.

Clarify and confirm what is expected before you work on a new assignment.

Comments for this Make Your Case installment are now closed. Thanks to all who participated. This week's guest commentator, Gill Corkindale, has posted...

Provide suggestions, not just objections.

Demonstrate your trustworthiness, character, and competence.

Gail becomes concerned when her manager, Andrea, gives their team of developers more responsibilities on top of an already substantial workload.

How can subordinates improve relations with their superiors? And how can superiors help their subordinates feel comfortable in what is often a tense relationship? These questions have usually been dealt with only indirectly in management circles. Yet the relationship is so threatening to many subordinates that they react in ways that are damaging to themselves […]

AllerGen, a young biotechnology firm, is heading for trouble, possibly even bankruptcy. The company's one product--a vaccine for people allergic to cats--may...