The following is a short book preview contributed by the Ohio State University Leadership Center.

Keep Your Boss on Your Side: Keep Them Informed

From: Wilkinson, P.R. (2008). Aha: insights for effective leadership and management. Baltimore: Publish America.

In today’s fast moving organization, everyone needs to be talking to everyone. Flowing all information up and down the ‘chain of command’ slows everything down which can be very critical in a highly competitive market environment. Most organizations encourage an informal communications structure where people talk with whoever they need to talk with to get the job done. But in this dynamic, there is opportunity and peril.

The peril is your boss being blindsided by hearing information from above for the first time, about work you have been doing. After a few occurrences, and there will probably be some guidance about how communication needs to take place. Trust and confidence will probably suffer.

The opportunity is just the opposite of the peril. If you prioritize making sure your boss knows everything that is going on so there is no blindsiding, you will be the boss’ hero. Trust and confidence will result (Wilkinson, 2008, p. 76).

Aha: Insights for Effective Leadership and Management is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center. To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page.

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