Breaking In

Manage Your Manager

So, you want to move up and don’t quite know how to make that happen… A critical part of growing is constantly finessing your upward management skills. (See more in my posting re: Are you an Assistant?)

Some tips I re-discovered lately:

1. The Boss as a Customer:  Your relationship with your boss is your most important one at work, it affects how happy you are and future mobility.

2. Communicate effectively: 
   • Meet regularly with your boss – come prepared with a list of agenda items to move through quickly.
   • Make sure that your expectations match-up – the worst is when you discover to late that you’re on a totally different page then your boss.
   • Tell your boss what you need – BE PROACTIVE, not reactive!

3. Try to Understand your boss – Observe how they act in various circumstances, how they respond to different communication styles and how they interact with their boss.  Learn from your observations and adapt your style to match what you see works.

Learning what makes your boss tick, not to mention what ticks them off, can help you improve the odds of developing a great working relationship that will lead to future (short-term and long-term) opportunities.

I'm an Assistant

Aren’t we all Assistants?

No matter your title, years of experience - if your boss or your boss’s boss, or someone more senior to you asks you to answer a call, make copies or prepare a document or spreadsheet – would you say no?

One of the first roles we all typically assume in the industry is an assistant role. Whether it is at an Agency, Studio, Production Company, etc. – we learn to be invaluable to our superiors.  We learn to do the ‘grunt work.’  We learn that doing the grunt work well and without hesitation is what gets us recognized.

My point here?  If you are eager, ambitious and hungry for a successful career in the entertainment industry, don’t forget your roots.

When I interview candidates or current employees for a Coordinator* or entry level manager positions, there is nothing more bothersome then the “above it” attitude – the sense of entitlement that a person has graduated from doing the clerical work.  Managers want to see a ‘go-to’ attitude, a team-player; someone willing to do whatever is needed immediately, without hesitation and/or attitude.  As working environments change and the demand for versatile and willing talent exceeds the supply, employers are looking for multifaceted, ‘in-the-detail,’ exceptional professionals.

Now, don’t get me wrong….as someone that has received constructive feedback on delegating more, I get that at some point we have to hand-over most of the minutia…. I’m just asking you to remember the importance of being willing to do what needs to be done – aren’t we all an assistant to someone?

* Don’t be fooled…“Coordinator” positions often carry more clerical responsibilities then some Assistant roles… more to come on this topic…