Managing Sticky Situations at Work

Sticky Situations with Your Boss 39Invite the Other Person to Talk. Mark asked many questions fromthe orientation of curiosity to learn what he could do to improve. Hewas looking for specifics from Richard. Once Richard pointed out particularinteractions or behaviors that bothered him, Mark took responsibilityfor those actions without being defensive and moved on.Join Feeling with Fact. Mark said he was disappointed with theevaluation and frustrated with not knowing what to do. Mark is probablya Bold personality. He shared his feelings with Richard onlybecause he knew Richard was a Sympathetic. He did not dwell onthose feelings; instead, he stayed on his agenda, namely, to determinewhat he needed to do to improve.Resolve the Issue. In cases where you find yourself in the hot seat, ithelps for you to suggest changes. Mark told Richard what specifically hewould do and repeated the plan several times. When your behaviorneeds modifying, you are the best person to say what you will do.Others can make suggestions, but when you show initiative as Markdid, it looks as if you really want to improve. Mark also ended with a positivegoal: to increase his score to a 5 by next year. Finally, he solicitedhelp from Richard by asking him for input before the year-end review.STICKY SITUATION #3:YOUR BOSS ASKS YOU TO DO SOMETHING UNETHICALCynthia directs the Information Technology (IT) unit in one ofthe largest financial institutions in the country. Although sheruns a section, she’s way down the line as far as management isconcerned. After much work on the part of Cynthia and herteam, this institution incorporated many technological changesin recent years. The firm management, which consists of presidentsand vice presidents high up in the organization, lackedunderstanding of technology and did not trust it. They fearedinformation leaks. After years of workingwiththem,cajolingthem, assuring them of safeguards, and promising never to giveout information to outsiders that might compromise the institution,Cynthia won their support and trust.One late afternoon Cynthia’s boss, Steve (who functions manylayers beneath the firm management group with whom Cynthia’steam works), enters her office.Steve says, ‘‘I’m telling you this first. We are finally ready tolaunch the customer call center. As you know, Bentley and I have