This supports her ability to get things done. To her bosses, she seemed to perform miracles.

I commented to her that I think the ability to gain cooperation is an underestimated component of efficiency. She said she had never really thought about it that way.

Take the time to pave the road so things run smoothly when you need them. It was early in my career. I was a mainframe systems manager.  I depended on the operators in our computer facility to do what I needed, when I asked them to. Moreover, I wanted them to want to do to the work. Intuitively I knew it was going to require spending time with them. I needed to earn the right to ask them to do things, when I didn’t have the authority. They didn’t report to me.

Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t simply using them. I wanted to get to know them. The more I understood their jobs, their routines, and their responsibilities, the more likely I would make intelligent requests of them. For instance, I would manage my work around their biggest printing and delivery days, etc. This would make us all successful at our jobs.

My supervisor criticized me for what he saw as me spending too much time with them. I tried to explain to him how it paid off. He didn’t seem to care so much about results as much as the difference between my approach and how he would handle things. He was quite strident with this criticism.

One day my supervisor invited me to his office. He asked me to present a particularly touchy employee relations topic to the operators because I had such a good relationship with them. Okay, so when it works for you, it’s okay that I’ve got these relationships…right?

What I said to him was: “I could do that. They will hear me out. But given your level in the organization I think it might be better for you to present this to them. This way you can develop the skills and the relationships with them so they can hear the message from you.”

I don’t even know where that came from. The other odd thing is that he didn’t push me to give the presentation then. I don’t feel like I ever paid a price for what could be perceived as impertinence.

As a former human resources manager we would discuss how different employees were good at teamwork or not. In a technical industry it was sometimes difficult for me to make the case that this was important, or how to measure it.

What we came down to is: “Do people want to work with this person? Are they able to get things done through others when needed?” Actually it’s not so difficult to measure, and yet, I still get resistance about the importance of this ability.

It can sometimes be hit-or-miss when you to have a meaningful conversation with your boss about topics like those in this guide.

Whether you are a new employee or you have a manager who is new to you, it’s always good to make sure the two of you cover — in more than just a superficial way — topics like what your boss considers a high priority or what kind of situation justifies you calling them at home.  These situations can be fraught with assumptions and differing expectations.  Good to get them discussed before they cause a falling out.

Take a moment now to claim your free guide to the types of topics you really need to talk about.  It’s so much easier to cover these before something blows up.