You work hard, get results and you're a team player.
Yet, your boss doesn't seem to like you.
Which makes it even more frustrating that
they seem to love Slacker Chad,
even though he doesn't do anything.
In fact, Chad seems to be your boss's favorite.
And you know that's putting Chad at an advantage
when it comes to performance reviews,
pay increases, and promotion.
How does he do it?
Well, Chad knows the four rules to
make your boss like you.
If you want to know what they are
I'm about to tell you! Just tap that like button
to let me know that you're ready.
And let's jump straight into it.
The first rule to make your boss like you is
to relate and validate. Chad knows
that commonality creates connection.
Whether that connection is created by
cheering for the same sports team
a shared habit of waking up at 5:15am to meditate
or having graduated from the same college.
Heck, maybe your boss relates to Chad because
your boss is a Chad -
happens all the time.
In any event, your boss sees themselves in Chad,
or they want to see themselves in Chad.
Remember, for my five villains video,
everyone likes Chads. He's pretty cool.
And because they see themselves in Chad,
liking Chad, giving Chad opportunities, and
even promoting Chad is an act of self validation.
If your boss thinks that meditating at 5:15am is
going to make them more successful,
they're going to apply that framework
when they're dealing with Chad. Of course,
this is not a conscious dynamic,
but it's a dynamic nonetheless.
You on the other hand...
maybe your boss doesn't really relate to you.
Perhaps outside of the typical work stuff,
it's super awkward having a conversation with them.
Like thank goodness for remote work because
it avoids that whole awkwardness of
accidentally stepping into the same elevator with them
and having that 60 second elevator ride of weird.
If you've been there, let me know in the comments.
The thing is, oftentimes you can spot
something that you have in common.
Are you both yogis?
Do you both passionately despise the new Matrix movie?
Okay, everyone does that one might be too easy.
If you can find common ground,
you can forge a connection.
That said, this might not always be in the cards.
Don't start watching football because it's
what Chad and your boss are talking about.
Instead, you can focus on the validating aspect
by applying rule two to make your boss like you.
And that is to make them look (or feel) good.
If you follow me on Instagram...
And you should because I post there
pretty much daily and I have a brand new
AMA Wednesday's thing that I have going on...
You'll know I'm absolutely obsessed with the book
The 48 Laws of Power right now.
When I sat down to start reading,
I cracked open that book snd the very first chapter is
never outshine the master.
As soon as I saw that, I was absolutely hooked.
Because I completely agree with that being
the most important rule. When we take a look at Chad,
even if Chad is a little bit of a power hungry Avery,
Chad knows not to make themselves l
ook better than the boss and
they would absolutely never make someone with
decision making authority in their career look bad.
They know the cost.
Now, does your boss happen to be a bit of a moron
who has no business being in the job they're in?
You know, it's never what I want to assume.
But it's possible.
Peters principle does mean a lot of
incompetent people rise up.
However it does you shining a light on
that fact to them to the team or
anyone who has attention you have help you?
Nope! A
nd if you feel this need to take them down a notch,
I want you to answer this question honestly:
why do you want to do that?
If you're answering honestly,
it's probably because they've made you
feel bad in some sort of way.
The thing is, while complaining about your boss,
exposing their incompetence in a meeting,
or even just pointing out a mistake
in a direct message might make
you feel good for a second,
it's going to make your boss feel bad,
and inferior, and not like you because
how you feel about someone is really
a reflection of how they make you feel about yourself.
And when someone feels bad, too often,
the reaction is to drag you down with them.
So don't do that to them.
And don't do that to yourself.
Because when it happens,
it's a cycle that goes on and on and on, and no one wins.
I'm not saying that you should never give
your boss constructive feedback,
especially if you have a good relationship
where you can have those conversations,
give them feedback.
I'm not saying to not escalate when they do
something seriously wrong, and especially if
they do something illegal,
but if the point of the action is just to
demonstrate their incompetence,
know that it's going to make you not just not liked
by your boss, but it's also going to make you a target.
Now if you're in the situation where
your boss has made you feel bad because
they're not a good boss, they don't really know
what they're doing. You're much better off to
rebuild your self worth,
which is actually the topic of my next video.
So if you need that one,
make sure you subscribe so you s
ee it as soon as it comes out. B
ut really what is going to serve your career
and the dynamic much better is to make your boss
feel good about themselves or to look good.
Focus on crushing that KPI that they're
measured on as a leader.
Give them positive feedback when they do something good.
It's Pavlovian, but it works...
Or find a way to reduce their
workload or number of headaches.
When you do those things your boss is going to like you.
And that's going to have benefits for you and your career.
And actually, this brings me to my third rule.
And what I love about rule three is
that not only is it transformative, it's one that
gives you a huge advantage over Slacker Chad.
Bring your boss solutions, not problems.
Let me tell you a story about two people
who reported to me in the past,
we'll call them Tony and Abby.
Abby was awesome.
Not only was she great at her job, but
anytime that she identified a problem,
a process gap or needed something in order to do her job,
she would create the solution.
And in any cases where she needed me to
greenlight something, she would come to me
with that solution in hand,
not only was she making my life easier,
and her life easier, she was actually
helping her entire team and building a better company.
And that was helping her in her career.
On the other hand, we had Tony.
Tony also spotted problems.
And when Tony spotted a problem,
he would complain about it.
Well, not just complain...
He would dump those problems on someone else
most typically meet his boss,
the person doing his performance review
and deciding if he got a pay increase.
And quite frankly, not only did I
dislike Tony a little bit more every time he did this,
each time it demonstrated his incompetence in the role.
And every time he would do it,
I would turn to Abby, who I knew we get things done.
And she got the career advancing opportunities out of it.
Whether it's a client issue,
a technical glitch, or process gap,
when you spot a problem,
don't just bring that problem to your boss.
Suggest a solution. I
t's going to show your boss that you're proactive,
intelligent, and heck, it might even help you with
Rule number two, which actually brings me to
the fourth rule to make your boss like you.
And this one is simple, but oh so complex...
Be likable.
This of course is one of the hallmarks of Slacker Chad.
Everyone like him.
And I know whenever I talk about Chad, a
lot of you think that I don't like him.
I like him too,
because whether it's intentional or not,
Chad is very likeable.
I want to be clear here. Being likable isn't
a skill that you either have or don't have.
Likability is a skill that you can, and should, develop.
In fact, I want you to go and watch this video right now
so that you can figure out some
instant likability boosters.
But before you go if you enjoyed this video
if it helped you give it a thumbs up!
It really helps my channel
makes you my favorite Career bestie...
win win situation.
While you're there, consider subscribing
if you haven't already. As always my friend
thank you so much for watching.
I will see you in the next video.
Bye for now.