How to influence your boss and keep your friends
“Ding dong, the witch is dead.” That was one e-mail doing the rounds at Hewlett-Packard last week after the ousting of Carly Fiorina, Business Week reported. The Wall Street Journal said some HP staff toasted her departure with champagne. “We see this as a big opportunity for change,” one employee was quoted as saying. “The mood is very optimistic.”
So they did not like her. How many said so before Ms Fiorina was fired as chief executive? Plenty, probably, but only to each other. It is hard for junior staff to tell their bosses they are heading down the wrong path. It is often no easier for those just a few rungs from the top, either.
Plenty is written about how hard it is to manage employees. How to manage your boss is discussed less but it is just as difficult, if not more so. Chief executives generally believe they are right. Self-doubt is not one of the qualities that propels them to the top.
“Most bosses like the power and authority they've worked hard to acquire,” says Michael Feiner of Columbia Business School in a thoughtful recent article*. “And with the success they've achieved, bosses can come to believe that their way is the right way, the best way perhaps even the only way. It's what led to their success, and it's why bosses can easily mistake a contrary view from a subordinate as insubordination, rather than feedback.” So how should you manage your boss? Flattery is one way. Tell your boss how well he or she is doing, even if you think the opposite. You will be promoted and win big salary increases.
There are two problems with this approach. Flattering an incompetent boss does the organisation no good. It also does little for your self-respect. Peter Drucker quotes the German ambassador to London who resigned rather than preside over a dinner of dubious purpose for the womanising Edward VII: “I refuse to see a pimp in the mirror in the morning when I shave.”
Slightly sturdier subordinates tend to employ one of the “three W's” when dealing with their bosses: walk, whinge or wait. Walking was what several senior HP managers did during Ms Fiorina's reign. They resigned rather than go along with strategies they opposed. That is easier to do if you have a job to go to or enough money to see you through a period of unemployment. Not everyone has.
Whingeing is a risky option too. By whingeing, I do not mean complaining to colleagues in the canteen after glancing round to check that no one important is listening, or grumbling to your spouse when you get home. I mean becoming a persistent opponent of where the company is going, constantly warning: “This isn't going to work.” You may get fired for your stance, but you are more likely to be labelled a moaner or ignored. (And do not expect anyone to thank you when you turn out to be right.)
The third W, waiting, means getting on with your job and keeping your head down while waiting for the boss to come unstuck. Many at HP probably did just that. This is a more principled strategy than flattery, and less risky than walking or whingeing, but it is not wholly satisfactory either. By the time the boss is finally fired, the company may have collapsed.
There is a better way, but it requires skill, patience and commitment. It is set out by Prof Feiner and in “Managing Your Boss”, written 25 years ago by John Gabarro and John Kotter of Harvard Business School and reprinted in the January 2005 edition of the Harvard Business Review.
Their approach requires you to work out what motivates your boss and then find a way of influencing him or her that does not get on everyone's nerves.
First, you need to remember that bosses have their own pressures. “They don't have unlimited time, encyclopaedic knowledge or extrasensory perception; nor are they evil enemies,” Profs Gabarro and Kotter wrote. “They have their own pressures and concerns that are sometimes at odds with the wishes of the subordinate and often for good reason.”
Second, accept that you are not going to change your boss's essential nature. Adult personality is pretty well fixed. Small changes in behaviour are possible but even those require considerable commitment from the person concerned. As the old joke goes: how many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb must really want to change. Your boss probably does not want to change; an aggressive, hard-driving executive is not suddenly going to start soothing everyone's ruffled feelings.
So, you work with the personality confronting you. What next? Choose your battles. Not every argument is worth having. “Your boss is probably as limited in his or her store of time, energy and influence as you are. Every request you make of your boss uses up some of these resources,” the Harvard professors wrote.
Take advantage of the openings you are given. Bosses who say they welcome e-mails should get e-mails. Those who ask for questions at the end of presentations deserve questions, whether they really want them or not. Asking them takes courage. Canvass your colleagues' opinions before you start; it is useful to know how many people agree with you.
Begin your question or e-mail by saying what aspects of current strategy you agree with. This should be truth, not flattery. Then say: “But many of us are worried about X.” The ‘many of us' matters because even the most obstinate boss is more likely to be rattled by widely held views than individual ones. Then state your suggested solution. Anyone can carp; if you want to be listened to, you need to offer an alternative.
Will it work? It depends on how many agree with you, particularly in the executive suite. If many do, your intervention may give them courage. But do not expect too much. There is only so much you can do. There is one enormous problem when it comes to influencing bosses: they are in charge and you are not.
如何“管理”你的老板
“叮咚，女巫死了，”这是卡莉?费奥瑞纳(Carly Fiorina)被解雇后，上周在惠普(Hewlett-Packard)广为传播的一封邮件，《商业周刊》(Business Week)报导说。《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)则表示，一些惠普员工用香槟庆祝她的离职。“我们把这视为一个重大的变革机遇，”该报援引一位员工的话说，“大家的情绪非常乐观。”
这么说来，员工们不喜欢她。但在费奥瑞纳被解除首席执行官前，有多少人说过这样的话？大概有很多，但他们只是互相说说而已。很难让下级员工去告诉老板，他们正沿着错误道路走下。而对于距高层职位只差几级的人来说，这也并非易事。
关于管理员工有多困难已有大量著述。有关如何管理老板的讨论则要少些，但如果说这不比管理员工更难，至少也是一样难。首席执行官通常认为自己是正确的。自我怀疑并非是将他们推上高层的素质之一。
“多数老板喜欢自己努力后所取得的权力和威信，”哥伦比亚大学商学院(Columbia Business School)的迈克尔?费纳(Michael Feiner)在最近一篇精心构思的文章中指出*，“而由于取得了成功，老板们可能会相信自己的方式是正确的、最好的，甚至是唯一的。这是他们成功的原因所在，也正因为如此，老板们容易将下属的反对意见看作不服从，而不是反馈。”那么，该怎样管理你的老板呢？阿谀逢迎是一种方式。告诉老板，他（或她）做得多好，哪怕你的想法恰恰相反。这样你就会升职，工资也会大大增加。
这种方式存在两个问题。奉承一个不称职的老板对这个机构并无好处，对你的自尊也无半点益处。彼得?德鲁克(Peter Drucker)引用一位德国驻伦敦大使的话说：“我不愿在早上刮胡子时，从镜子里看到一个皮条客。”这位大使拒绝主持一场别有用心的宴会，该宴会是为沉迷女色的爱德华七世(Edward VII)而举办的。
略微坚决一些的下属则倾向于采用“3W”之一：走人(Walk)，抱怨(Winge)和等待(Wait)。几名惠普的高级经理就在费奥瑞纳任职期间一走了之。他们宁愿辞职，也不愿附和他们所反对的战略。如果你有其它工作可做，或者有足够的钱度过一段失业期，这么做就比较容易。但并非人人都有这样的条件。
抱怨也是一种危险的选择。我这里所说的抱怨，不是指在餐厅里四下看看，在确定没有要紧的人在听之后，开始向同事们抱怨，或是回家后对自己的配偶抱怨。我指的是坚决反对公司的发展方向，并不断警告说：“这不会行得通。”你可能因为自己的态度而被解雇，但你更可能被贴上“爱发牢骚”的标签或被打入冷宫。(而且当事实证明你对之后，也别指望会有人感谢你。)
第三个“W”是等待，意思是继续做你的工作，并埋头等待老板完蛋。惠普的很多人也许就是这样。这种策略比阿谀奉承有原则，比走人或抱怨安全，但也不是尽如人意。因为到老板终于被解雇时，公司可能已经垮了。
有个更好的办法，但那需要技巧、耐心和努力。此法由费纳教授提出，并在《管理你的上司》(Managing Your Boss)一文中有所阐述。该文由哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)的约翰?加巴罗(John Gabarro)和约翰?科特(John Kotter)在25年前撰写，并重新刊登在2005年1月期的《哈佛商业评论》(Harvard Business Review)上。
他们的方法需要你弄清什么能够影响你的上司，然后找到一种影响他（或她）的方法，同时又不惹恼大家。
首先，你必须记住，老板们有他们自己的压力。“他们没有用不完的时间，没有百科全书般丰富的知识，没有超感知觉，他们也不是邪恶的敌人，” 加巴罗和科特教授写道，“他们有自己的压力和担忧，这些压力和担忧有时违背下属的意愿，但通常很有理由。”
其次，接受这样一个事实，即你不是去改变上司的本性。成年人的个性非常牢固。小小的行为改变是有可能的，但即使那样也需要本人相当努力才行。一个老笑话说：换个电灯泡需要多少位心理学家？只要一位，但这个灯泡必须真的肯换。你的上司或许不想改变。一位有闯劲的、勤勉奋斗的管理者不会突然准备去安抚每个人焦虑不安的心绪。
所以，你要处理的是面对你的人的个性。接下来呢？你要有选择地进行较量。并非每场争论都值得进行。“你上司的时间、精力和影响力也许和你一样有限。你对他（或她）提出的每个要求都要消耗掉一些这样的资源，”这两位哈佛教授写道。
利用你所获得的机会。如果上司们说欢迎电子邮件，那他们就该收到电子邮件。如果他们在陈述会结束时要求提问，那你就提问，不管他们是否真的想要。向上司提问需要勇气。在开始之前征求你同事的意见，知道有多少人赞同你是有好处的。
在问题或电子邮件的开头，说说你赞同当前策略中的哪些方面。这应该是实话，而不是阿谀奉承。然后说：“但我们许多人对某方面感到担心。”“我们许多人”很重要，因为即便对于最顽固的上司而言，众人的观点也会比个人观点更有可能令其感到慌乱。然后陈述你所建议的解决办法。任何人都有可能吹毛求疵，如果你想让别人听取你的意见，那你必须提供一个可供选择的办法。
那样会奏效吗？那取决于有多少人赞同你，尤其是在管理层中。如果很多人都赞同你，那你的干预可能给他们勇气。但不要期望太多。你能做的只是这么多。在影响上司这方面有个很大的问题：他们是负责人，而你不是。
*《皇帝的新装定律》(The Law of the Emperor’s Wardrobe)
