Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to bring good news to your boss.
Speaker 1: Whenever you are updating your organization's leaders about progress, let
Speaker 1: these people know at least one thing that is going right.
Speaker 1: This habit is a great way to show that you
Speaker 1: are doing good things without your needing to blatantly to
Speaker 1: your own horn. Today's tip, like another this week, comes
Speaker 1: from Daisy Dowling. She's the founder and CEO of work Parent,
Speaker 1: a coaching and consulting firm focused on working parents and
Speaker 1: their employers. She's also the author of the book work Parent,
Speaker 1: The Complete Guide to Succeeding on the job, staying true
Speaker 1: to yourself, and raising happy kids. On an episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast Women at Work, Dowling offered listeners advice for
Speaker 1: letting their bosses know about important work they are doing
Speaker 1: without seeming to be bragging. Many of us have received
Speaker 1: the career advice to talk more about our own accomplishments,
Speaker 1: and perhaps we should, but this can often feel awkward
Speaker 1: and not exactly how we wish to conduct ourselves, so
Speaker 1: we need to come up with other ways to be
Speaker 1: visible and create a good reputation. Dowling suggested that people
Speaker 1: think about what a more senior person or another colleague
Speaker 1: is really hungry to hear. She went on to say
Speaker 1: that there are very few bosses who don't want to
Speaker 1: hear about a project going well, or about a client
Speaker 1: being happy, or about something having been done under budget
Speaker 1: or before deadline. So why not make sure to talk
Speaker 1: about these things as part of any larger status updates.
Speaker 1: You can probably anticipate the times your boss is going
Speaker 1: to ask you how are things going? Plan for these
Speaker 1: moments by thinking through the main updates you will want
Speaker 1: to share, and then think about what specific good news
Speaker 1: you could tell your boss. So, for instance, when you
Speaker 1: are reporting that your team has now met the first
Speaker 1: three of five major objectives that a client asked for,
Speaker 1: you could also note that our new team member Louisa
Speaker 1: has been such a great addition, and our client actually
Speaker 1: sent me a note about how thorough she was at
Speaker 1: checking all the numbers. Or when you are mentioning that
Speaker 1: you'll be pilot testing the new performance evaluation system next week,
Speaker 1: you can note that John got the vendor to give
Speaker 1: us an additional rebate, so the numbers are looking even better.
Speaker 1: Your basic formula can be the main headline about the
Speaker 1: project status plus the piece of good news that you
Speaker 1: know your boss would like to hear. You won't overwhelm
Speaker 1: anyone with details because your boss is probably busy, but
Speaker 1: you will become known as the person who is bringing
Speaker 1: good news. You are part of a winning team now.
Speaker 1: Of course, it is also important to communicate with your
Speaker 1: boss when things are not going so well, so that
Speaker 1: she knows what's going on and can weigh in with solutions.
Speaker 1: But even if the status report includes setbacks, there may
Speaker 1: still be an opportunity to share good news. Even if
Speaker 1: you only met one of the objectives the client set
Speaker 1: and so you are behind, you can still share that
Speaker 1: note about Louisa's attention to detail, there is almost always
Speaker 1: some good news and including that can cast you in
Speaker 1: an optimistic light. So the next time you and your
Speaker 1: team accomplish something important, put yourself in your boss's shoes
Speaker 1: and identify what she would most like to hear. If
Speaker 1: you can ease your us as worries and make her
Speaker 1: feel like many things are going well, you will be
Speaker 1: sharing your accomplishments without doing so directly. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
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