Category: Managing the Boss
Difficult means complicated, challenging or someone who is hard to deal with. A difficult person can be considered obnoxious, or verbally attacks you, criticizes you. They can be intrusive, controlling, picky or petty. But the executive you consider to be difficult might be a great opportunity to another assistant.
It truly is a special skill to support and partner with an executive. It is not an easy role, and it is not for the faint hearted. It takes grit, resiliency, street smarts, tenacity and agility.
Managers have a lot on their plates, which can prevent them from getting back to you about your project in a timely manner. Here are C+A+O, the three elements to any decision you should remember when writing emails to your boss.
Question: My exec is a really lousy delegator, always taking everything on herself, even tasks that are far beneath her and could be handled by anyone. As a result, she’s got too much on her plate and she’s always stressed. How can I fix this?
Question: My executive is notorious for delaying, fussing, hedging and eventually missing deadlines. Then there’s always a weak apology: ‘Sorry, I got sidetracked.’ Every time he does this, it inconveniences other departments. Are there any good ways to get him into a different mindset, one where we’re not all scurrying around to make up the time he costs us?
Question: The coronavirus situation has really revealed who on our staff is technologically savvy and who’s not, but my manager doesn’t seem concerned about the gap. How do I suggest that we all get more trained up on everything we should know?
Question: My executive got a few figures wrong in a recent meeting where about 20 people were present. How should I have corrected him?
Let’s start 2020 off with a bang by giving you some useful advice to help you better plan your executive’s travel.
There are all sorts of reasons delays can occur, and sometimes it’s the behavior of your leader. Authors Amy Cooper Hakim and Muriel Solomon describe four types of delaying bosses.
Effective calendar management simply cannot be handled by a robot, an application or a piece of software. It takes brain power, empathy and deep understanding.