Featured Book
Peer Power: Transforming Workplace Relationships
Peer Power provides the keys to effective interpersonal collaboration. Building on a foundation of four principles (Be Real, Extend Respect, Take Responsibility, and Build Relationships), you will expand your ability to positively influence others. The authors share common mistakes they’ve made, along with the choices they recommend to work effectively with challenging people. From the “drive-by boss” and the “faux-smart” boss to the “whiner” and the “clueless colleague,” the book exposes nine behavior patterns that may bedevil you at work. Rather than pointing fingers at others, Peer Power encourages you to modify your behavior so you can influence changes in their behavior. If your selected strategy fails, Peer Power offers a “Plan B” for your next best option.
Cynthia Clay
Ray Olitt
Ray Olitt has over 25 years of experience in the training and organizational development field. He currently consults with and coaches leaders in a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations. He retired as Manager of Organizational Development for a health insurance company in 2003. Prior to that, he served as Manager of Management and Professional Development for a bank and as a Management and Organizational Development Specialist for two aerospace companies.
Ray’s skills at engaging audiences with practical content have resulted in dozens of invitations to present workshops at home and abroad. Ray designed and frequently taught the very popular workshop “Working Well with People Over Whom You Have No Authority” for a human resources organization serving all of Washington state. This workshop has attracted more attendees than any comparable program in the organization’s history. Ray earned an Ed.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a specialization in Adult Curriculum Development.
Knol
Peer Power: You and Your Faux-Smart Boss
A faux-smart boss knows some things and always thinks that you know less. So listen up!
Peer Power: Transforming Workplace Relationships explores the communication approaches that support positive relationships with your colleagues at work. Here you can learn about the kind of boss that abuses his power because he really thinks he knows a lot, and how you can respond in a way that will make a difference.
Cheat Sheet for the Faux-Smart Boss
Definition: The faux-smart boss has unrealistic confidence in his own ideas and skills, often accompanied by a lack of confidence in his employees.
Clues
The faux-smart boss:
- Argues when others give input
- Insists upon doing things his way
- Makes impulsive or unwise decisions
- Micromanages his employees
- Asks his employees to ignore company policies or procedures
- Refuses to delegate much
- Takes back tasks once delegated
- Rates his employees too critically
- Hires employees who tend to agree with him
- Shows favoritism to people who agree with him
- Pontificates at the drop of a hat
- Refuses to acknowledge mistakes
Helpful Assumptions
The faux-smart boss:
- May have a high need to be right
- Values expertise
- Wants perfection
- Refuses to entertain other viewpoints
- Feels humiliated when exposed as unknowledgeable
- Can be very insecure about job or self
- Can be uncomfortable with change
- Feels pressured by a work culture that rewards the wrong priorities
- Likes to mentor others and share what he knows
- Usually has good intentions
- Often has considerable expertise and a successful track record
Key Principles and Practices
Take Responsibility
- Focus on what you can do. Don’t become a whiner.
- Communicate frequently with your boss. Ask his opinions.
- Help your boss succeed.
- Respect your needs. Honor your own accomplishments.
- Perform well (so your boss will have confidence in you).
- Prepare thoroughly when presenting your ideas.
Extend Respect
- Honor differences. Adapt to your boss’s style.
- Listen to clarify your boss’s expectations.
- Be loyal. Correct misinformation but don’t undermine.
- Respect the organization’s culture.
Be Real
- Express what is on your mind.
Strategy: Coaching or Collaborating
Coaching (when the issue mostly affects the organization)
- Approach the issue using sincerity and tact.
- Ask for permission to provide information and coaching.
- Be curious. Listen well; paraphrase without arguing.
- Allow for face saving.
- Empathize with his situation; acknowledge his expertise.
- Ask questions that help your faux-smart boss assess the situation, determine goals, and come up with solutions.
- Do not dominate the conversation. Get his ideas first.
- Give options rather than a single solution.
- Allow the boss to save face when altering a position.
- Do not embarrass the boss in front of others.
- Let your boss come to his own conclusions and decisions.
Collaborating (when the issue mostly affects you personally)
- Schedule face-to-face discussions to resolve issues.
- Make assertive, clear requests that meet your boss’s needs. Acknowledge good intentions.
- Do not get defensive or convince the boss he is wrong.
- Paraphrase frequently to demonstrate you are listening.
- Explore alternatives. Create joint solutions.
- If your boss evaluates you unfairly, ask to provide more information.
- Agree on the steps to implement joint solutions.
- Acknowledge any improvements afterwards.
Plan B (If Your Initial Strategy Fails)
- Avoid undermining your boss’s decision or criticizing it to others.
- Avoid revisiting the issue with your boss.
- When Collaborating fails, move to Compromising.
- Caring-for-Self: Write a professional response to an unfair appraisal; manage your time well but refuse to work overtime perpetually; salvage situations caused by poor decisions; look for another job.
Here is a role play showing how you can make things work with a micromanager.
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NetSpeed Learning Solutions offers Peer Power courses for the face-to-face and virtual classrooms.
© 2011 Cynthia Clay and Ray Olitt
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