When the Boss Needs a Boss
A lot of things make me giggle throughout the day, especially the spirited conversations I have with some of my clients. It always makes me laugh when I hear a particular client’s response to the question, ‘so what does La’Vista do for you?’ Her response is always, ‘She’s the boss. She’s really the one in charge of all this - I just do what she tells me to.’ Now, by no means do I actually boss any of my clients around (no matter what they say). LOL But I do think this client’s go-to reply gives some meaningful insight into our partnership.
In my corporate life, I often practiced the method of, managing up with my direct boss and their peers. Simply put, it’s the attentive process of knowing and managing the needs of the boss and the business. It involves anticipating the next step, question or action needed to achieve optimal results. Done well, it creates an open atmosphere where all voices are heard. It’s a partnership. Concerns are voiced and acknowledged. Suggestions are given and often taken. And advice is welcomed and oftentimes, asked for. In this relationship, the levels of vulnerability and trust equity are high. And the walls built by pride have been torn down.
With the bosses I had in corporate, this winning chemistry didn’t happen overnight. But as it developed, our synergy and results were amazing.
As the unspoken right hand to any boss I’ve ever had, I’ve always made the managing up role a priority. The essence of this role is about having the boss’ back and making their life easier.
But what about entrepreneur bosses, specifically Boss Babes? Yes, they need to be managed up as well. A key to achieving success as a Boss Babe, is establishing the right team to support you. For the sake of sounding like a broken record, you shouldn’t try to do everything on your own - you can’t. Below are a few things that a boss can bring to the table when supporting another boss.
Strategy.
As the boss, sometimes you need someone to help you come up with a plan. Just because you’re the boss, doesn’t mean you’ll always have all the answers - that’s just unrealistic. Entrepreneurship can get lonely - so having someone you can brainstorm with is nothing short of amazing. Getting your ideas out of your head and into an actionable plan is invaluable. Forming your plan with the help of someone with a different perspective will stretch you. And this stretch may help you to level up the achievements in your business.
I recently had an impromptu call with a friend and former client of mine. She wanted to brainstorm ideas for her Black Friday offerings. In the end, she’s the one that came up with the strategy that she decided to implement. But it was the opportunity to bounce her ideas off of another person (and one that is intimately familiar with her business) that made her decision process easier.
Flexibility & Trust.
Here’s the deal, life happens. And even if you have the most amazing plan in place, you have to become flexible in your methods. Having a trusted ally by your side, can make those pivots in your business so much more easier to navigate.
Over the summer, I supported a client on-site at her two-day event. We had a media plan in place that included live-streaming her event. However, there were some obstacles that came up. I needed to make on-the-spot decisions that impacted how the media coverage was delivered to our virtual audience. This definitely wasn’t something I wanted to bother my client with just minutes before she got ready to take the stage. Luckily the trust equity that has been cultivated through our working relationship empowered me execute deliverables on her behalf.
As a boss, supporting other bosses, I value building trust equity with each other. I dedicate time to understand the client’s needs, vision and culture they want to create within their business. I find that the longer I work with a client, the more opportunities arise for me to make decisions on their behalf. Through established trust equity, they know that I’ll handle those decisions as if I was handling an issue within my own business. That gives the term, ‘I’ve got you’, a deeper meaning.
Creativity.
As the boss, you usually have a front row seat to the issues within your business. Being too close to a problem can cause some overthink - and may allow you to overlook simple or even more creative solutions. Having a creative problem solver on board will save you hours of frustration when an un-expectant hurdle presents itself. There’s comfort in knowing that your business won’t come to a screeching halt, just because a hurdle appeared. Additional comfort comes from knowing that it won’t always need to be you using your brain power to clear that hurdle either.
I often sit and watch my son play. One of the things I love the most about watching him, is seeing his young mind figure things out for himself - even if that means climbing up his high chair, to get on the counter, to reach on top of the refrigerator to get the hidden bubbles he wants that where previously out of his natural reach. It makes me giggle to myself, (once he’s back on the ground safely) because I know that this kind of resourcefulness will serve him well in the marketplace.
Strategy, flexibility, trust and creativity. The ability to make and follow a plan. The openness to remain fluid enough to deal with change. The cultivated trust to act as a proxy. The wiring to come up with creative solutions when they’re needed.
#DearBossBabe, this is what partnering with another Boss can do for your business.
This is what I can do for you.
To learn more about what I do and how us working together could be a good fit for your business, I invite you to click here to schedule a complementary discovery call with me today.