How to Control Your Boss

Discover How to Control Your Boss

Anubhav Kapoor

Contemporary workplace relationships have become liberal, infusing a sense of independence among people at work

but some things are unchangeable and one such facet across offices is the relationship between a boss and subordinates. Yes, addressing your boss on first-name basis might make you feel like an equal but remember, most bosses are egoistic—it is just a matter of this aspect being easily visible or concealed. Thus, no matter how progressive your organization seems, keeping your boss happy, his ego polished and more importantly, controlling your boss is a vital requirement.

Getting Started: Always Get Noticed

Don’t be an invisible employee in your office. Controlling your boss cannot be accomplished unless you are omnipresent, around the office. Ensure that you are always a part of his decision-making process. This is the first step towards ensuring that your boss associates you among his core group of people. You being a subordinate won’t matter as long as you are visible at all the important moments. Be at the forefront of team discussions when opinions are sought. Never let go of an opportunity to get highlighted. Your popularity will ensure that your boss cannot excuse you from the team. Once you establish this degree of importance, you can step ahead.

Be the Boss’ Handyman: Get Odd Jobs Done

In serviced apartment complexes, there is a handyman who is called upon by the occupants for a range of things they cannot do themselves or find hard-to-manage. A handyman isn't the richest, the most impressive or good-looking guy—his utility makes him important to everyone. Similar to him, you too should try to be the “go-to guy” when you boss needs unofficial, odd jobs done. This is the second step towards building the boss’ trust in you. Secondly, it provides you a certain degree of power for influencing things in the future. Your handyman-like profile means that you are entrusted with the boss’ personal information which if revealed could be damaging to the boss’ reputation. Once you are officially the person who gets the boss’ informal work done, you can use this reputation to leverage leaves and incentives in your favor.

Identify the Boss’s Enemies At Work

This might sound a bit far stretched but office politics is not surprising to any of us. Your boss too will have contemporaries and other professionals in the organization he is jealous of or feels threatened by—identify such folks. Now, you have to enact a rather simple task, i.e. hate and bitch about these people in front of your boss. The boss might not openly endorse the happiness he feels for his workplace enemies being bad-mouthed but indirectly, he will develop an appreciation for your judgment. This unsaid bond of admiration based upon mutual hatred, between you and your boss, can be used to manipulate decisions in your favor.

Identify Gray Areas in Your Boss’ Profile

No matter how perfect a senior might seem, everybody has got some skeletons in the closet. This could be in the form of having lied about work experience, fabricating educational qualifications, an office affair or even a deviant sexual orientation. No matter what, always keep searching for things that your boss isn't particularly proud about or doesn’t share. Once you discover such secrets, create a dramatized situation wherein you indirectly hint at knowing about and understanding such issues. For instance, if your boss is seeking psychotherapy, enact the role of a perpetually anxious person who is contemplating going to a psychologist. This will win you the sympathy of your boss, further strengthening the bond you guys share. This soft corner that you can carve in his heart can be used in the future for getting things done, your way. (Work Life, MensXP.com)