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Source: Understand what motivates your boss
Steven Robbins
HBS Working Knowledge, 13 March 2006
However satisfying or enjoyable a job, fundamentally most people work to get paid. And it is bosses who decide what you get paid, so managing your boss is key to your personal success.
Bosses primarily reward those who meet their needs - so work out what really motivates your boss. This might be categorised as power (wanting things to happen their way), affiliation (wanting to be popular and liked), or achievement (wanting results) - or a combination.
Satisfying the achievement boss is therefore about you getting stuff done. The power boss wants things done their way: help them to do so and to empire-build, although beware of hurting the business. With the affiliation boss, your job is to help smooth out relationships.
But the business world insists on talking about achievements, so you'll still need to argue your compensation case in terms of achieved goals.
Review by Steve Lodge, May 2006, World Business
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