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It is commendable that you’ve
considered the benefits available at
your company before you leave. It
is also great news to see there are
open roles at your company that will allow
for career mobility. Please know, however, in
this economy and workforce culture, lead-
ership will continue to change. This means
personality and leadership styles will also
change no matter where you go. Consider
“managing up.” This is a tactic I learned to
use when I thought my relationship with my
manager wasn’t going anywhere.
For example, find out specifically what
your female colleague is doing that makes
her successful and why. Also find out why
this approach is important to your boss.
In my instance, I asked the manager if we
could go for tea and just talk because I
wanted to get to know her better personally
as my new leader and teammate. The next
time we met, I let her know I wanted to
understand her expectations and commu-
nication style so I could be sure to exceed
them.
While I was building relationships with
colleagues and the “tough” boss, I learned
that both were behaving that way because
that’s all they knew. I also realized my boss
was new to the role and she wanted to make
a good impression on her boss. In addition,
and out of fear, my boss wanted to avoid any
type of conflict at all cost and that was why
she supported everyone who “goes along
with what she says.” It took time to build
trust, but that is what helped all of us grow.
After building trust, what you may learn is
your boss would be open to hearing your
ideas thus seeing better results that she can
brag about to other leaders. To this end, you
always have a good relationship with your
new manager, because hiring managers will
likely ask her about your results, profes-
sional development and teamwork capabili-
ties before hiring you.
Moving elsewhere in the company may
also be a good approach. This gives you
the opportunity to continue to learn more
about the company, various leadership styles
and transferable skills. As you look and
apply for different roles, be sure to focus on
the ones that interest you most. Make sure
your resume for each application is always
different with use of the specific words that
were used in the job posting. Take time
before or after your shift to meet others
that are currently in the role for which you
are applying. This is how you will build
relationships and get the inside scoop into
what their day is really typically like. You
can also identify the skill professionals in
this role actually use and be able to genu-
inely and clearly indicate why you want the
role and how you will be a great fit. Most of
all, taking these steps show the leader just
how interested you are about being there
and how much of a people person you are
because they’ve seen you engage with poten-
tial teammates.
Here’s to catapulting your career!
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