The Most Important Relationship of Your Career

The professional relationship you create with your boss will be the most important relationship of your career. It’s up to you to know your boss and their work style. How well you know your supervisor and like working with them will most likely impact your success with your firm.

Ninety-two percent of employees leave career opportunities because they don’t have a strong work relationship with upper management. Isn’t it time you worked on the most important relationship of your career?

Two Steps for Two-Step

How can an employee build a professional relationship with the boss? Try these two steps:

Take the initiative to connect.

You and your boss are busy so ask for a one-on-one meeting. It’s preferable to meet somewhere outside the workplace. A casual atmosphere, such as going for a walk or grabbing a coffee, can put you both at ease. When you feel relaxed, you’re more likely to open up and communicate honestly.

Identify your brand in the company.

Your boss needs to know who you are, and so do you. Are you the team player, go-getter, solitary worker, or data diva? If your brand is often overlooked, it’s time to develop a more noticeable brand. You can do this by:

• • Volunteering for assignments
  • Taking on a new project
  • Coming up with and sharing good ideas

By taking the initiative and re-inventing your brand, you’ll be able to grow your career path.

How to Work Well with Others

Part of developing a good working relationship with your boss is using skills that the corporate culture values. For example, these three soft skills are rarely taught, yet are deeply in demand:

• Communication. Being able to communicate clearly and succinctly is vital to business success.
• Positivity. Taking a positive approach to your role and the people you work with improves corporate culture.
• Courage. Asking the hard questions about your job performance and how you can improve and grow will build your career acumen.

However, there is one caveat: never position yourself as more important than the team. The relationship you build with your boss shouldn’t be based on brown-nosing, either.

The time you devote to getting to know your boss well enough to work with them will help you build the most important relationship of your career.

Begin the process now, putting each tip in place as you can. When the next quarter arrives, gauge your progress: assess, evaluate, and adapt. Continue implementing this strategy over the next several quarters. You may find that your boss is a great person to work with, and your career is on its trajectory toward meeting your professional goals.

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