среда, 20 марта 2013 г.

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/3-secrets-influential-resume-summary/


3 Secrets To An Influential Resume Summary

Posted by  • March 18th, 2013 • Leave a comment
Writing a resume ‘summary of qualifications’ that stops employers cold and makes them realize you’re the right candidate can be challenging. After all, you’re good at what you do, but can be tricky to boil down your ROI to concise statements in hopes of standing out.
For most people, writing a summary of qualifications is such a major task that they look around at other resume examples to get ideas.
Here are some insider tips to creating a summary that exemplifies your personal brand in just a few words – making employers take notice:
1. Lose the Boilerplate Language. Today, every professional is self-motivated and results-driven (and if they aren’t, they’ll be spending the majority of their time job hunting).
Copying generic summary phrases from other resumes is one of the worst sins you can commit, because it’s a sure way to tell employers that you’re identical to everyone else.
Shake things up instead by making a list of your top value-added skills employers need. Do you complete projects faster or more accurately than colleagues?
Have you been promoted quicker, due to your business acumen or leadership skills? Are you able to spot new business opportunities and close deals that are lucrative for your employer?
This list will give you ideas to use in writing your summary—concepts and skills unique to YOU that most likely won’t show up in the resumes of your competition.
2. Pull in Quantifiable Facts. Employers aren’t hiring just to have a potential source of help – they need the ROI you can deliver. So show them your value in figures and metrics from throughout your work history.
This example of an Operational Safety Manager resume summary provides a quick snapshot of consistent value, backed up by metrics:
“Safety advocate and operational leader who influences profit (up to 20% single-year increase) by fostering productive, engaged employees. Hands-on manager with strong financial acumen, delivering regular cost, efficiency, and volume forecasting improvements throughout 80,000-square foot plants.”

As shown here, quantifiable achievements in your resume summary help to quickly distinguish you from other candidates – even in a crowded field with hundreds of applicants.
3. Drop Names. Marketing copywriters have known for years that name-dropping gets attention. Now, you can take a cue from these professionals to amp up the volume in your resume summary section.
If you’re in a sales leadership role, you can mention names of major clients, with a line such as “Closed high-value deals with Apple, Cisco Systems, and Oracle.”
Even if client names are confidential, your summary can use the information in a different way, such as “Created millions in key partnerships with Fortune-ranked corporations in the technology industry.”

Not in sales? You can still reference the names of partner alliances, past employers, or vendors to show collaboration and leadership skills, as in this example:
“Senior Vice President commended for turning around performance through sourcing negotiations with Baptist Health System, Medical Center of Austin, and the Mayo Clinic.”

In conclusion, your resume summary isn’t the place to be modest and toned-down in describing your brand value. Instead, consider boosting its effectiveness with well-placed, strategic information on your specific value-add to employers. – Originally posted on onTargetjobs by Laura Smith-Proulx
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http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/10-reasons-cover-letter-sucks/


10 Reasons Your Cover Letter Sucks

Posted by  • March 19th, 2013 • Leave a comment
    A strong cover letter could be your ticket to moving a step further in getting a new job. This relatively concise piece of information has the ability to place you steps ahead of other candidates, highlight your achievements, and showcase your personality – but no one ever said creating one would be an easy task. Writing a knockout cover letter might even be one of the most challenging parts of the hiring process.
It’s hard to nail down just one challenge that accompanies writing cover letters. Unfortunately, many poor cover letters have allowed outstanding candidates to be passed over by hiring managers. While writing your cover letter might be a scary task, doing it successfully is essential to getting hired.
Don’t let your next cover letter be a flop; consider these 10 mistakes before you hit send:
1. It’s Riddled with Errors. There are many things the errors on your cover letter will express to a hiring manager: lack of attention to detail, carelessness, and even disinterest in the position. Your cover letter deserves to be triple checked for poor grammar, punctuation, and overall structure. Pass it along to your mentor or friends to ensure you haven’t missed anything.
2. It Lacks Focus. What are you attempting to convey to the hiring manager? Writing about your professional experiences can be challenging, and it often causes job seekers to create unfocused cover letters. To write a more direct cover letter, consider creating a layout encompassing your main points.
3. It’s Too Long. Respect the busy schedule of a hiring manager by utilizing brevity in every cover letter you create. Write short and succinct paragraphs to allow for a more easily read document. Sift through unnecessary details and only present the most beneficial information for the job at hand.
4. It Doesn’t Set You Apart. Your cover letter is your chance to leave your mark on a hiring manager. Rather than reiterating what they can read on your resume, use this as an opportunity to share why you’re better for the job than any other candidate. Use a strong, purposeful statement of what you can bring to the position, and how you can positively benefit the company as a whole.
5. It Fails to Highlight Your Skills. While you certainly don’t need to highlight every single job you’ve had during your career, your cover letter should talk about your skills and experiences most beneficial to the company. Your cover letter isn’t for sharing your personal life or specific needs.
6. It’s Missing Information. Job listings often require certain information from applicants. By failing to share the necessary information in your cover letter, you’re essentially removing yourself from the hiring process. Why would a hiring manager choose you over a candidate who went above and beyond to provide the correct details? Double check the qualifications needed for the position prior to sending it.
7. Your Tone is Off. While a cover letter is a professional document, it also gives your potential employer insight into your personality. Don’t rub a hiring manager the wrong way with long-winded bragging. Be sure to leave out arrogance, unprofessional information, and keep the company’s culture in mind.
8. It’s Generic. Customization is key in every part of the hiring process. Submitting a generic cover letter presents you as an average candidate. Your cover letter is an opportunity to stand out and truly speak to a hiring manager – don’t settle for generic.
9. You’re Not Qualified. No matter how you twist and stretch your skills and experiences, you might not be the right candidate for the position. Applying to a position you’re under qualified for is an all-too-common part of the job search. Keep in mind this not only wastes the time of the hiring manager, it also uses up the time and energy you could be spending on applying to position you’re more accurately matched.
10. You Don’t Have One. Just because a cover letter wasn’t mentioned in the job listing, doesn’t mean it’s OK to skip it – they’re never optional. Your cover letter is an important opportunity to convey points you can’t in your resume. Omitting this document leaves you at a fault.
Creating a strong cover letter may be a challenging, but it’s worth the time and energy. Leave a positive first impression on hiring managers by going out of your way to create a concise, focused, and customized document.
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суббота, 9 марта 2013 г.

http://idealistcareers.org/4-tips-for-staying-positive-while-searching-for-a-job/

4 tips for staying positive while searching for a job



Photo credit: John McGovern, Creative Commons/Flickr
Photo credit: Jon McGovern, Creative Commons/Flickr
Searching for a job can be a formidable task, and whether you’ve been looking for a job for a few weeks or a few years, it’s easy to feel discouraged. However, there are ways to counter self-doubt and make effective strides in your job hunt. Try these four tips for staying positive while looking for your next opportunity.
Create a daily routine.
For many people, losing the daily routine that comes with a job can be one of the most unsettling aspects of unemployment. If you find yourself struggling to stay organized or motivated, or becoming easily discouraged or anxious, implement new routines using your job search as a base. Setting up even a basic routine—perhaps a daily cocktail of one part surfing the want ads, one part networking, and one part researching your field, with a sprinkling of fresh fruit breaks and walks around the block—can really help keep you grounded.
Also, consider devoting a little time each day to journaling about your job search activities. In particular, write about what you do well and how you feel engaging in all aspects of the search. Look for patterns that help you predict when you might feel particularly stressed or down. Note the activities that give you positive energy and incorporate more of them into your routine.
Connect with others.
Think of a few people you know who have recently taken a new job and set up time to chat with them about their experiences. Even if they looked like they navigated the process with casual ease and confidence, you will probably hear a different story. If you ask your friends if they ever felt unsure of themselves, you’ll likely hear some tales of insecurity, worry, and self-doubt. Talking about these experiences can help you remember that a job search is hard on everyone, but that if you maintain a focus on self-care, you’ll be able to get through it. Also consider a job search support group to share your experiences, or even volunteering to develop and maintain new relationships while helping others.
Keep an eye on your health and stress.
It can be tempting to forge blindly ahead despite physical and emotional symptoms of stress, and transition is a time when stress can sneak up and deplete your reserves before you’re aware it’s happening. There are obvious reasons for experiencing stress during a job transition: dwindling finances, pressure from family to get a job, and mounting self-doubt about the chances of future employment. So be proactive: monitor the quality of your sleep, diet, and exercise and talk about the issues that are worrying you. Also, be kind to yourself: it’s not easy trying to put your best self out there, day after day, in difficult circumstances.
Remember that your life is more than your job search.
Your job search should be on the front burner when you’re in transition, but your life is not your job search. Support, discovery, adventure, and connection should be key elements in keeping your life balanced. Remember to stop, take deep breaths, and invigorate your mind along the way. Think of your career transition as one big exercise in self-improvement.
How do you stay positive while job hunting?
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четверг, 21 февраля 2013 г.

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Surveys measuring employee engagement have become increasingly common. Most major corporations now regularly survey their workforces. There is no doubt that their surveys can yield useful information about employee attitudes and behavior. In many cases, however, the data are misinterpreted, misunderstood, and result in wasted time and money.
Most engagement surveys ask questions concerning a number of distinctly different attitudes that employees hold. Some of these attitudes affect turnover, some affect work performance, and still others have little or no impact on employee behavior.
Many individuals who interpret the data have limited knowledge about what the causes and consequences are of employee motivation, satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. As a result, they don’t correctly interpret the data collected in engagement surveys.
This doesn’t have to be. We have decades of research on employee attitudes that clearly establishes the relationship among employee attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. Let me quickly review this research by starting with two common beliefs that are incorrect and then discussing three research findings that should be kept in mind when employee engagement data are interpreted.

Fallacy #1: Money does not motivate – it is only a “hygiene” factor.
For decades the discussion of whether or not money motivates behavior and how it motivates behavior has been prominent in the organizational behavior literature as well as in the mass media.  Writers have gained book sales and visibility by saying that it does not motivate performance (note the popularity of the recent book, Drive), and that it is only a “hygiene” or dissatisfier factor. The simple fact of the matter is that for many people, it does motivate performance. Study after study has shown that when significant amounts of money are clearly tied to specific behaviors, those behaviors are more likely to occur.

Fallacy #2: A happy worker is a productive worker.
Starting about the middle of the 20th century and proceeding for several decades, organizational psychologists conducted many studies that correlated job satisfaction with performance. The results consistently showed low or no correlation between the two. In some cases, there was low correlation only because performing well made employees more satisfied, not because employees worked harder because they were satisfied. This is a particularly important point when engagement data are interpreted. As we will see next, there are reasons to worry about employee job satisfaction, but not because of the impact of increasing satisfaction on performance!

Truth #1: People differ in what they value.
There are large differences in what people value. In order to understand how to motivate somebody, it is critical to know what an individual values. There are a number of indicators of what a person values. Perhaps the best one is watching the choices individuals make when they have the opportunity to choose a reward, say receive a raise, a promotion, or a day off. It is also possible to get a reasonable understanding of what they value by looking at their characteristics. Yes, age is a predictor, as is gender, but overall they are relatively poor predictors.
Often the best way to find out what people value is to ask them. Usually, they are pretty good reporters of what they value. However, sometimes they don’t have a high level of self-awareness, or they may feel that it is necessary to give a politically correct response. This brings me back to the original point that watching the choices they make is oftentimes the best indicator.
One last point: it is critical to avoid stereotyping and assuming that people of the same race, age, and gender are similar in what they value. Even within what appears to be relatively homogeneous groups, there are often enormous differences in what individuals value.

Truth #2: Expectations lead to motivation.
Motivation is best understood, influenced, and predicted by understanding the expectations that people have. Simply stated, people engage in behaviors that they expect will lead to rewards they value. Thus, it is critical to know individuals’ expectations of what their behaviors will lead to.
There are a variety of outcomes that may be tied to work behaviors. High performance may lead to more money, feelings of accomplishment, high job security, and a host of other positive outcomes that can cause people to perform at a high level. The key from an organizational point of view is to understand what people see as the consequences of different kinds behaviors and to create a good alignment between what the organization needs and what individuals expect to be rewarded for.
Often, simply setting goals for individuals can make a major impact on their motivation. If individuals accept the goals and see the behavior as worthwhile, they will be highly motivated to pursue these goals.

Truth #3: Satisfaction leads to membership, not performance.
Satisfaction is a good predictor of absenteeism and turnover. Earlier, the point was made that happy workers are not necessarily productive workers. On the other hand, they are likely to be individuals who will stay with an organization. Essentially, when employees say they are satisfied with their job, they are indicating that there is no reason for them to look elsewhere for an alternative situation. They are not necessarily saying that they are motivated to be productive, but they may be saying that they will be loyal to the company and speak well of it to others. This is different from them being motivated to perform well. Indeed, happy workers tend to RIP (retire in position) unless they are somehow motivated to perform at a high level.
Looking at the results of employee engagement surveys and developing action plans based on them requires looking at the items on the survey in terms of what they measure. Do they measure satisfaction? Do they measure motivation? Once this is done, and only once it is done, does it make sense to think about action items such as making work more interesting, providing more job security, or rewarding performance with bonus plans?
Yes, engagement scores are indicators of how good or bad a work situation is. In most cases, it is better to have higher rather than lower engagement scores, but in order to take action directed towards improving organizational performance, the items need to be looked at separately and used to make data-based changes that will drive employee retention, performance, and commitment.
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воскресенье, 17 февраля 2013 г.

How to Boost Employee Career Satisfaction


Employees need to be happy in their work. If they don’t feel fulfilled and enjoy some sense of autonomy, absenteeism and other ills will follow.

Happy brains are creative brains. That’s one conclusion from psychiatrist and attention deficit disorder expert Edward Hallowell’s book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best From Your People.
Happiness should be a big aspiration in talent management due to its impact on productivity, creativity and loyalty. Since 2008, people are often producing within a pressure cooker of deadlines and an avalanche of information. Yet many high-potential, high-growth career tracks offer less time and fewer resources to draw out an employee’s best.
The executive parts of the brain, the frontal lobes, which excel at sequencing tasks, solving problems and producing results, are not online when people are under excessive stress. Further, prolonged stress ultimately triggers the fight or flight emotional parts of the brain, the limbic system, that make people feel and react, but not do, according to Hallowell. Instead of happy brains, people have stressed brains and low career satisfaction, which translates to low productivity and decreased innovative thinking.
In the 2012 National Norms Survey on employee engagement levels in the U.S. workforce, only 10 percent of the 700 adults surveyed in March agreed that they were fully engaged in their work. Modern Survey, an information gatherer and human capital trend analyst which conducts the annual workforce survey, reported that 67 percent of respondents were either underengaged or disengaged.
There were two things survey respondents claimed they wanted more than anything — senior leadership’s clear vision of where the organization is going and the opportunity to personally grow and develop. When connecting these desires to research like Hallowell’s on happiness at work, talent managers can find at least nine ways to boost career satisfaction in any organization.
A Clear Vision
Employees want to be informed about goals and expectations and how their roles fit within them. Do I have a future here? is one of the most important questions for both employers and employees to answer. Employers, however, often try to answer that question by offeringpromotions and pay raises when employees are really looking for value and meaning in their work.

In Shine, Hallowell contends that the first step to career satisfaction and high performance is to select the right people for the right jobs. This is a strengths-based approach to talent management as opposed to a performance-based approach that focuses on weaknesses and making improvements.
If people are engaged in work that leverages their natural strengths and interests, it fires up their brains. Talent managers can identify natural strengths and interests by talking to employees about what they love best about their jobs and the areas where they feel most accomplished. By giving people tasks that require more of those strengths and interests, managers can leverage more focused hours from employees than if they have placed people in roles that don’t fit their strengths and interests well.
Career satisfaction rule No. 1: Place people in the right roles according to strengths, skills and interests. Not everyone is destined to be a manager. Leaders and managers must have conversations with employees more than just annually about what they love about their work and what doesn’t suit them. These conversations should be ongoing. They also must be two-sided. Employees need to be aware of the organization’s goals and how their skills and aspirations fit within them. Without that knowledge it will be tougher for employees to find a fit.
Rule No. 2: Give people frequent opportunities to reflect on how their career goals and interests align with organizational goals. This should happen more frequently than at the annual performance review. This activity should be at least a quarterly conversation during a staff or departmental meeting where stakeholders review the organizational goals and discuss briefly how each person or team is contributing to meeting them. If there are barriers, discuss those, too. Managers also should have individual meetings with employees to discuss their career aspirations, talents and strengths to see how these are aligned or not with organizational goals.
There is often pushback on rule No. 2 because employers assume employees won’t be honest, and employees assume they are being evaluated for cutbacks. To move past this barrier, a third-party consultant or coach can facilitate these conversations.
In 2009, the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) at the University of Minnesota participated in an anonymous employee engagement survey, and determined that employees were generally happy in their work but didn’t see opportunities for growth. They also did not experience engaging conversations with managers regarding their aspirations within the organization.
To address these findings, CTS implemented changes to its performance management system by identifying core competencies, illuminating where employees excelled and where they needed development. They also involved employees in goal setting to ensure they were engaged in the process prior to addressing steps for individual improvement.
Rule No. 3: Build a high level of trust between employees and senior leadership. “We were more inclusive of staff offering ideas to reach our goals, and we had training for managers about how to engage employees in conversations about what is working in their jobs and what is not working,” said CTS Director Laurie McGinnis.
As a result, CTS built more trust and engagement between managers and staff while setting goals that fit the individual as well as the organization.
Rule No. 4: Help employees feel connected to the company’s mission, purpose and future success. These conversations should originate from leaders and management because employees need to understand their individual roles and value in the organization. Managers must ask questions to find out what is important to each employee, and then communicate those values in an individualized professional development plan. For example, CTS revisited its mission, vision and values and included employees in the conversations so the organizational structure also matched employees’ mission, vision and values. This alignment helps staff cope with shrinking budgets and organizational changes in leadership, McGinnis said.
Moving Forward Personally and Professionally
Adults questioned in the National Norms Survey reported their second greatest desire is for personal growth and development.
Rule No. 5: Support employee opportunities to expand skills, learn and grow. This does not require a huge formal training investment. Consider the 70/20/10 model developed by the Princeton University Center for Creative Leadership. About 70 percent of skill development and learning happens on the job. About 20 percent happens through contact and interaction with others. And 10 percent happens through formal classes, workshops or webinars. Encouraging workplace interactions such as peer learning, socializing and collaboration contributes to career satisfaction.
Rule No. 6: Happy employees trust and enjoy their co-worker relationships and feel energized by them. This rule also ties to two of Hallowell’s primary rules for helping employees shine: connect and play. In effect, managers should encourage interpersonal bond strengthening among team members and allow them to play together formally and informally to unleash their imaginations and enthusiasm.
Assign time for creative team activities during business hours and encourage socializing after business hours — as appropriate to the culture and industry. Employees can do this through friendly contests and competitions, but also through social outings such as golfing or bowling that place them in a fresh environment to learn about each other and their unique strengths and interests.
Enjoying co-worker relationships is an important element of career satisfaction across generations, but even more so for workers in their mid-20s to mid-40s who are blurring the lines between their professional and personal lives. Allowing downtime for employees to mingle and gather by the water cooler, even metaphorically through their mobile apps, will support career satisfaction and retention.
Rule No. 7: Provide opportunities for employees to demonstrate discretionary effort. Talent managers may have noted that younger employees don’t respond well to the command-and-control style of leadership that directs performance rather than encourages input and interaction. Author Daniel Pink has said that carrots and sticks worked in the 20th century, but today’s challenges require leaders to loosen the reins a bit and allow employees to rise to the occasion
In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Pink writes about the “deeply human need to direct our own lives.” He cites evidence that autonomy is a huge natural motivator, which is counter to traditional methods of leading from the top down.
Hallowell calls this grapple and grow, which suggests that talent managers should allow employees to step up, put in the extra effort and achieve mastery of their work. This can be done by delegating certain projects to team members and letting them brainstorm and come up with solutions. Autonomy also relates to flexible work environments in which employees choose the hours and methods to achieve objectives.
Rule No. 8: Give employees a reason to be proud of the organization. It follows that employees who feel a sense of autonomy — choosing how they work and achieve objectives — also should feel more ownership of the organization’s mission.
This is only the case, however, if organizations make good on the other rules: providing a clear long-term vision and the employee’s role within it, communicating regularly with employees on their aspirations and providing opportunities for growth and learning.
Rule No. 9: Watch for signs of burnout. Miss these important drivers of career satisfaction and talent managers will begin to notice signs of overworked and unhappy people. If these signs start to show up among top performers, the problem has immediately gotten bigger. Organizations that ignore the intangible workforce motivators will sabotage the one thing that every employee needs in today’s challenging work environment: resilience.
Signs of irritability, higher absenteeism, more frequent mistakes and missteps and emotional reactions are evidence that employee engagement and resilience are low. Schedule conversations quickly with top performers and be open to creative solutions that can help them get back in the saddle.
http://talentmgt.com/

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The Difference Between Satisfied, Engaged, Aligned, and Highly Engaged Employees


Don’t settle for employee satisfaction. Push for highly aligned and engaged employees who are themselves pushing your company forward.
Let’s get one thing clear – we do not want satisfied employees. “Satisfied” implies sated, content. Do we want employees to be content with the current state? No. We want employees to always be pushing the boundaries and striving for the next level.
That’s why I get annoyed when people use the words “satisfied” and “engaged” interchangeably when talking about employees (as in this recent Talent Management article). Engaged employees are very different from satisfied employees. Indeed, Timothy Clark outlines these differences extensively in his book The Employee Engagement Mindset. In TLNT recently he highlighted in particular 5 Ways Engaged Employees Are Different(quoting):
  1. Highly engaged employees take primary responsibility for their own engagement.
  2. Highly engaged employees feel the least entitled.
  3. Highly engaged employees engage customers.
  4. Highly engaged employees remain highly engaged almost anywhere.
  5. Highly engaged employees apply six behavioral drivers. Individuals who take personal and primary responsibility for their own engagement consistently apply six behavioral drivers: connecting, shaping, learning, stretching, achieving, and contributing.
In other words, highly engaged employee sustain their own engagement. I would argue “satisfied” employees are constantly looking for others to fulfill their requirements for satisfaction.
Engagement vs. Alignment
I would add one additional hallmark of highly engaged employees to Mr. Clark’s list: Highly engaged employees align their efforts with the company mission, vision and values.
To me, a hallmark of truly engaged employees is their ability and willingness to give additional discretionary effort on projects or objectives that are meaningful and important to the organization. It’s that last point that is a critical link.
George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky, authors of Rapid Realignment, see alignment and engagement as two different things entirely, as they explained in this guest post about their book on Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership blog:
“Engaged and aligned are two different things, and they don’t always travel together. Research by the Corporate Executive Board has found that 40 percent of “engaged” employees do not align their behavior with organizational goals. Overall, it concludes that only one in 10 employees is both engaged and aligned with strategy. Clearly, many managers are failing to connect people with the strategies they are emotionally prepared to support with their daily work. This represents a huge lost opportunity.”
How do connect employees with organizational strategies (many of which shifted thanks to the recession)? Youhelp them understand what those strategies look like in each employee’s daily work.
In other words, you make enterprise-wide strategy goals real at the local job level. And you do that by frequent, timely and specific reinforcement of employees who align their efforts with strategic objectives. Social recognition is the most powerful way to accomplish this, as you not only reinforce that message for a particular employee, but you also empower others to see that message and add their own messages of congratulations and understanding of how those contributions made a difference.
Are your employees satisfied, engaged, aligned, or highly engaged and aligned?
About the Author:
Derek is Vice President, Client Strategy & Consulting Services, at Globoforce, the world’s only provider of truly global, strategic employee recognition and reward programs. Their management team blogs regularly on Globoforce news, products, customers, and industry insights at the Globoforce Blog.
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воскресенье, 13 мая 2012 г.

8 Things Great Bosses Demand from Employees


When your team asks you want you want, here's what you tell them.
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My recent column, 8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses, drew a flood of responses. But there's one thing I didn't mention: An extraordinary boss communicates his expectations clearly to his team. That way, everyone understands what it will take to make your company succeed.
With that in mind: If you are the boss, you'll want to share this column with your team, because it will make your job a heck of a lot easier. And if by chance you're not the boss, memorize this column–because it contains the key to long-term success.
Here are the rules for keeping your boss happy:

1. Be true to your word.

Your boss wants to trust you. Really.  Therefore, whenever you accept an assignment, follow through religiously, even fanatically. Do what you say you're going to do. Never overcommit, and avoid hedging your bets with vague statements like "I'll try" and "maybe." Instead, make your word carry real weight.

2. No surprises, ever.

The secret fear of every boss is that employees are screwing up but are not saying anything about it.  So even if you're afraid some bad news might upset your boss, make sure he's informed. Note: If your boss consistently "shoots the messenger," you can ignore this rule–because his behavior shows he doesn't really want to be in the know.

3. Be prepared on the details.

Your boss wants to believe you're competent and on top of things.  That's why she sometimes picks an aspect of your job and begins randomly asking penetrating questions. Therefore, whenever you're meeting with the boss, have the details ready so you can answer these queries with grace and aplomb.

4. Take your job seriously.

Bosses appreciate individuals who truly care about what they do and willing to take the time to achieve a deep understanding of their craft. Bosses need people who have unique expertise. You don't have to be a pro at everything, but you should definitely have a specific area of knowledge that your boss values.

5. Have your boss's back.

When you see your boss about to make a foolish decision, it's your responsibility to attempt to convince him to make a different one. Make your best case, and express yourself clearly. However, once the decision is actually made, do your best to make it work–regardless of whether you think it was the right one.

6. Provide solutions, not complaints.

Complainers are the bane of your boss's existence. Nothing is more irritating or more boring than listening to somebody kvetch about things that they're not willing to change.  So never bring up a problem unless you've got a solution to propose–or are willing to take the advice the boss gives you.

7. Communicate in plain language.

Bosses are busy people and have neither the time nor the inclination to wade through piles of biz-blab, jargon and weasel words. When dealing with your boss, speak and write in short sentences, use the fewest words possible to make a point, and make that point clear and easily understandable.

8. Know your real job.

Regardless of what it says on your job description, your real job is to make your boss successful. There are no exceptions to this rule. None.
And, by the way: Your boss's real job is to make you more successful. The reversal of these priorities is the source of almost all organizational problems.
Like this post? If so, sign up for the free Sales Source newsletter.
Geoffrey James writes the "Sales Source" column on Inc.com, the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

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