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Stay Close to Your Boss, Keep Your Job

Jul 6, 2010

Leslie Stevens-Huffman

Having a good relationship with your boss could be the primary reason you’ll keep your job when others are losing theirs. Why? Simple: If he’s told to let people go to save money, your boss will probably keep the employees he knows best and trusts most. The good news is there are lots of ways to support your boss and build a professional relationship with him - without coming off as a sycophant. The key: Remember that in tough times managers tend to favor self-directed, top performers.

Here are the five tips for building a healthy relationship with your boss.

Help your boss succeed: Don’t ignore your own performance objectives, but do your part to help your boss achieve his business plan. You’ll stand a better chance of meeting your own professional goals if you help your boss meet his.

Be trustworthy: If your boss shares information in confidence, keep it a secret. Never gossip about him behind his back. Being a trusted confidant is a sign of a healthy relationship - one that will lead to job security.

Pitch in: Volunteer for extra duties or take a few projects off your boss’s plate. If your boss knows he can count on you to pick up some of the slack after a layoff, he’s more likely to keep you around.

Be supportive: Compliment your boss every now and then. Being a manager can be a thankless job, and chances are he’s not getting a whole lot of praise from senior executives right now.

Manage yourself: By all means ask for direction, guidance and support. But if you need constant support or need to be supervised closely, you're going to be in the crosshairs. When push comes to shove, your boss will opt to retain employees who will grab the ball and run with it.

First published Jan. 27, 2009

Comments (7)

"Well, I was close, and appreciated, but my boss was not given any notice about my being let go. ... In fact, it was all about money....I've heard all that about 'making yourself 'indispensable'...when it comes down to it, the money is all."

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Comments (7)

  • My boss is a her...  how presumptious efinancial! tut tut.

    Living in the 21stC 28 Jan 2009

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  • Since the English language remains without a suitable gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun, we at eFinancialCareers - following established usage elsewhere in the media - make a practice of randomly switching between "he" and "she" in stories. Sometimes we do this within a single story, sometimes not. In some of our stories, hypothetical individuals (bosses or not) are uniformly denoted by "she."  Bottom line: as is usually the case, the previous commenter's arrogance ("how presumptious efinancial! tut tut.") arises not from knowledge but from ignorance. It isn't we, but "Living in the 21stC", who is being presumptuous here. --Jon Jacobs, eFinancialCareers News staff

    Jon Jacobs 28 Jan 2009

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  • To the news staff who wrote the above: It is very convenient what you say since the original author wrote with a "He". However, the objectivity of an article relies on the article itself and not on what you may or may not have written in other articles by switching between "he" and "she".

    Dan Shaun 28 Jan 2009

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  • Dan, your comment misconstrues the word "objectivity."  The question debated in the preceding comments doesn't involve the story's objectivity - merely a convention of style or word usage.  - Jon Jacobs, eFinancialCareers News staff

    Jon Jacobs 28 Jan 2009

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  • Jon, 'a convention of style or word usage'  such as using only 'he' in articles like this is partly to blame for reinforcing peoples stereotypes today.  Didn't you listen to Obama? it's time for a change, a change we can all believe in! 

    We all know how easy it is to get sucked into taking writing/articles at face value, and referring to everyones boss as a he is certainly not helpful, or reflective of bosses today.  May i suggest that in future articles you use she/he as an alternative? It doesn't take much longer to type and would have saved mine and Dan's time commenting on this.

    Living in the 21stC 30 Jan 2009

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  • And what if you have a boss who is acting in an unscrupulous manner? Should should you still be supportive of them and have their back?

    Lilly 01 Feb 2009

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  • Well, I was close, and appreciated, but my boss was not given any notice about my being let go.  Her boss made the decision, yet still claims it came from above him!  In fact, it was all about money.  I think I may have been making 4 or 5 dollars an hour more than the junior they kept, left with all the burden, until they let her go as well, leaving my x-boss with a huge problem.  I don't think she (my x-boss, definitely a 'her') had a chance, or a choice.  I've heard all that about 'making yourself 'indispensable'...when it comes down to it, the money is all.

    The lesson from this end: trust no one, blame no one...carry on.

    kristin 30 Apr 2009

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