Despite staggering numbers of people in charge, the mission is simple: make your boss’ role easier, become indispensable and help them meet their objectives. Since this mission may be easier said than done, tips on building your relationship with your boss follow.

Be the effective communicator

Bosses have full schedules, crowded inboxes, and appreciate concise communication. For perspective, the average office worker now sends or receives 121 emails a day, according to a recent report by the Radicati Group. Translation: your Boss potentially receives more than 121 emails each day. To be heard by your boss, speak and write in brief sentences, use the smallest amount of words possible to get your point across (e.g., key messages), and make that point clear and easy to understand.

Be the go-getter

With a little direction, self-motivated employees are the go-getters that take the lead on assignments or research details before important meetings. Sara Nichols, Senior Vice President at Kforce Inc. says these self-starters can help their bosses save time and allow them to focus on other areas.

“Employees that routinely rise to new challenges and demonstrate a high degree of self-motivation, tend to get recognized when the opportunity for advancement is presented,” says Nichols.

Be informed

It is important to understand the operation of your organization. If you are new to the company or are now ready to learn more, start by familiarizing yourself with the organizational chart and reporting structures. Follow this with a review of the top customers as well as the profit and loss to understand the financials. This will make your more valuable to your boss in the near term and allow you grow into a role that a fluid workforce may create as time progresses. Learn as much as you can along the way as the ability to adapt to change is a valuable skill in today’s workforce.

Be supportive of professional goals

Certainly, a primary job of any employee is to make the boss’s life easier. Just like you, your boss has professional goals that he or she is trying to accomplish, Al Coleman Jr. lawyer, professor and author reminds us; “Find out what’s on your boss’s plate, and see how you can help to lighten the load.”

Be the ambassador

If questions can be answered better in the field, schedule the trip. I was speaking with a senior leader in the high-tech industry and he shared a clever tip that helped him expand a relationship with a non-technical boss. His two-part action included field visits as well as periodic 1:1 briefings with his boss who was new to his industry. As an added benefit of spending time, to help his boss understand the technical issues on the job, this high-tech leader was able to expand his business acumen as his new boss was assigned to lead a large organization for obvious reasons.

In the end, your boss has a role to cover, projects to lead, and initiatives to execute—and they hired you because they want you to help make these efforts successful. Based on your experience, do you have a tip or expert insight that has helped you build a positive relationship with your boss? If so, please share your professional tip with the audience by adding a comment below.

This article originally appeared in ThinkPositiveMag.com

1. Manage your boss

“Managing up,” instructs Bob Pozen, Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, “does not mean manipulating your boss. It means establishing a mutually beneficial partnership. You want to become resources for each other.” This wisdom is a reminder that it is critical to strengthen the working bond with your boss. Wondering how to get started? Begin by analyzing what the boss pays attention to and expects from you and your peers. It is also important to understand the best way to relate to your leader. In other words, how do they want to be kept informed of important news (e.g., call, text, urgent email?). A third action; learn which people influence them the most inside or outside of the organization. By knowing this, it can help you identify a future partner or set of allies needed to gain approval in larger or more critical efforts.

2. Identify what you want and put it in writing

Set aside time to write out your career goals, review on a regular basis and make plans to accomplish them. For everyone who thinks this act is simple, the insight from Harvard’s study on goal setting may surprise you. Following decades of research, the study shows that successful people reach their career goals not because of who they are, but often because of what they accomplish.

Here is an excerpt from the iconic Harvard study. In 1979, interviewers for Harvard’s MBA Program asked new graduates “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?”

The findings:

84% had no specific goals at all

13% had goals but they were not committed to paper

3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them

As a follow on, in 1989, the interviewers again met with the graduates of that class. Study results: The 13% of the class who had undocumented goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84% who had no goals at all. Another important discovery: the 3% who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% put together.

3. Work across borders

Today’s high potential candidates work effectively with diverse teams and build common ground quickly. Further, successful leaders with experience in more than one country are increasingly considered as valuable as their specialties. Looking closer at trends and the global DDI study, CEO’s have named cultural competence as one of the top critical skills they want leadership teams to have. The surprising reality gap DDI uncovered: only 34% of leaders in the study ranked working with people from different cultures as a true strength.

Interested in learning how you can capture a global experience or build on what you have? Take on a short-term assignment at your organization’s office in another country. Unable to leave home or not with a company that has an international presence? Serve on a team or committee through a professional association or non-profit with international members. Make the most of this opportunity by preparing in advance through books such as ‘The Culture Map’ by Professor Erin Meyer or at a minimum spend time researching the culture of your new team members.

4. Get a sponsor and be a sponsor

Your success will certainly be built on hard work and many great leaders will tell you that they could never have reached their position without having mentors or sponsors along the way. If you are curious how mentors and sponsor differ, Gordon Nixon, the respected former chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada, explains the contrast to the Financial Times: “We’ve all had mentors who have offered advice, but sponsors are the people inside our company who have helped us get to senior levels. Sponsors are what you really need to succeed.”

Although you won’t always know who your sponsors are, it is important to understand that they will advocate for you in the workplace when you need to be more visible. Ultimately, your legacy relates to your perceived success in an organization, so actively make an effort to build relationships and prove your value-add to your organization. Word to the wise – this may translate into handling unfamiliar projects or volunteering to deal with the most difficult customer, in order for you to grow as a leader. Another growth opportunity includes paying it forward, which includes keeping an eye out for someone whom you can sponsor. As being a sponsor is rewarding and may even open doors for your next career move.

5. Continue learning while earning

Expanding your knowledge base can improve your confidence and earnings. Thinking of heading back for an advanced degree or an executive program? You will be in good company as a recent Georgetown University report focused on those of us who learn while earning, cites college enrollment increasing from 2 million to 20 million in 60 years. If you enjoy reading and want to gain good business advice, here are 4 books worth reviewing: ‘Secrets of the Superbosses’ by Sydney Finkelstein, ‘Act Like A Leader Think Like A Leader’ by Herminia Ibarra, ‘Collective Genius’ by Linda A. Hill & Greg Brandeau plus ‘How to Get a Meeting with Anyone’ by Stu Heinecke.

Wrap up

Do you have a favorite tip that has helped you move your career forward? If so, take a moment to share your thoughts with our audience by adding a comment below. Here’s to your continued success.

This article originally appeared in ThinkPositiveMag.com

To get ahead of this challenge, follow along as recognized experts share how they hire, lead and retain the very best global talent in today’s competitive marketplace.

Build The Right Global Team

In her recent HBR article “Hire the Best and Let Them Work from Wherever They Are,” Cassandra Frangos, Vice President of Cisco’s Global Executive Talent outlines the right things to look for when hiring a remote, global team member:

1. Assess whether the person is independent, passionate about their work, and collaborative. In addition, the most important experience this individual should have is past success working remotely. Find out how they made it work and double down on the due diligence.

2. Consider the individual’s leadership style and how they project themselves. In order to make an impression from afar, they need to stand out in a crowd and be an advocate for their ideas.

3. Take a close look at the manager to whom they will report. Remote employees need someone who will advocate for them regardless of where they live.

Pro Tip: The last part of hiring people who are going to work remotely is knowing when it won’t work. There are some jobs where the location is fixed. In some companies, for instance, the head of sales needs to work in close proximity to the CEO. For other mission-critical positions, it is necessary to be face to face with local accounts or available for the community.

Words That Work

Paul Berry, Founder & CEO of RebelMouse shares what he has learned in his 15 years of managing remote, global teams. Here are three tips that I have personally adopted:

1. Live and breathe your email and make sure the team does too – the only way I’ve found that works is when everyone on the team keeps their inboxes open and checks emails as their absolute highest priority. Without that we operate blindly to each other since there is no tapping someone on the shoulder as there would experience in an office.

2. Give the benefit of the doubt – my team has huge cultural and language differences (although everyone does have a working knowledge of English as the basic way we communicate). We all were raised with different ways of approaching projects, handling conflict resolution, etc. It’s essential that we forgive each other constantly for odd grammar, odd behavior and instead try to make the beauty of building something together lift us above any confusion.

3. Be intentionally positive – It is too easy for things to sound negative in an email. Without tone, body language or anything else, it’s extra important to make sure emails don’t turn into hurt feelings. Sarcasm and deadpan humor can come across the wrong way (especially because humor doesn’t always translate across cultures). But being friendly and approachable – even if it means using lots of emoticons – is always welcome. I try to encourage my team to be overly friendly in their emails, even if it means they sound less “businesslike.”

Improve Team Culture

Melinda Emerson, author and recognized business owner shares “If your team is [or a portion of them are] working virtually like my marketing & sales teams are, leverage technology such as Skype, join.me, and google hangout so you can be ‘face-to-face,’ for certain meetings and try to plan an event not related to work where you get together in real time at some point during the year. You’d be amazed at how spending time together and not just talking about work can really strengthen your bond. Another important reminder from Ms. Emerson: “Invest in your team and they will protect your business.”

Know Your Audience

INSEAD Professor Erin Meyer’s timeless CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria reinforces the importance of cultural awareness and perception as leaders expand their global teams through the potential treacherous terrain.

Timing & Next Steps

Two additional resources worth mentioning include: world clock and the global holiday calendar from Time & Date. These are handy links for anyone working across time zones. Now it’s your turn. Do you have tips or resources that have helped you work in different cultures and get things done? If so, thanks in advance for joining the conversation and sharing insight via the comment section below.

This article originally appeared in ThinkPositiveMag.com

The ability to negotiate a competitive salary is a critical skill to have during the interview process; it is also a talent that will benefit you throughout your career. If you are like many employees taking on additional responsibility, working longer hours, and not seeing any improvement in your salary – it may be time to request a salary increase. So, how can you improve your chances of a successful negotiation? Follow these 4 steps to make a good case:

Step No. 1 – Do your homework. Begin this action by talking with professional recruiters and checking comparable roles listed online to help you determine which salary range you will fit into. A few sites to check for competitive salary information include: Glassdoor, Careerbliss, Salary and Indeed.

Step No. 2 – Track your successes. Make a solid list of your contributions and have it handy during the salary negotiation. Consider where you have delivered return on investment for your company. For example: Have you saved your employer money or streamlined processes to be more efficient? Captured additional clients or expanded an account that was outside of the sales plan? Or have you delivered a new initiative on time and on budget? Also, you can capture specific comments from colleagues as well as other leaders that detail what types of accomplishments you have made that added to the bottom line. By tracking and sharing these examples you will be making a stronger case for a salary increase.

Step No. 3 – Be flexible and practice. Before you approach your leadership about a raise, know exactly what you want. Another critical action is to practice your discussion and key messages in advance of your meeting. Who can help you prepare? Schedule a practice session or role play discussion with a trusted family member or mentor. Also be ready to be flexible. As an example: if you ask for a 10 percent salary increase and you are told that there is no money in the budget; perhaps you can negotiate a non-cash benefit that would include an extra week of vacation, flex time, or stock options. If all else fails, this is the time to ask your leader if you can discuss a raise in salary 6 months from now, when the company is in better financial shape or when the organizations budget discussions have been finalized.

Step No. 4 – Time it right. Take note on how your company is doing financially and within industry. Do this by answering the following questions: have recent budget cuts taken place? Were layoffs or reductions in force recently announced? If any of these or related negative actions have taken place – it is not the right time to ask for a raise in salary. Although it is a good time to continue tracking your successes and update your resume with recent accomplishments.

By following these steps you will be better positioned and prepared to ask for the salary you deserve. Do you have comments or additional tips regarding salary negotiations? Continue the conversation in the comments section following this article.

Q: What is the philosophy of shedding? Why is this important and how did Lenny become your business partner?

Ms. Dempsey: Good questions and let’s start with Lenny. As background, Lenny was the result of a life-changing conversation with a colleague about his pet lizard that died because it didn’t shed his skin. Two transformational things happened that day: first he gave me a benchmark for my personal growth path so I had a metaphor “shed or you’re dead” featuring Lenny who has been a great listener, business partner, and vehicle for helping people. Second, it is remarkable how much lizards can teach us about growth and change. The first of four key lessons to share with tomorrow’s business professionals and organizations is that if they don’t shed they can become unhealthy and die.

Q:  Fantastic introduction. Can you tell us- what is the biggest barrier to shedding in today’s world of business?

Ms. Dempsey: Overcoming fear is the biggest barrier to shedding. Studies teach us that a staggering 95% of people say that fear is the number one thing that holds them back at work and in life. A few years ago I had the privilege of speaking for the Disney Corporation in Orlando. After experiencing an incredible backstage tour I was surprised to discover that Walt Disney was afraid of mice. So what did he do to face his fear? He embraced that fear and transformed it into his biggest professional success. Walt Disney chose to make his fear less scary. He added big ears, a fun playful face and named his fear: Mickey. The key lesson: when you resist facing your fear there is usually a price to pay – not only to you but also to others.

Just think for a moment, if Walt Disney had never faced his fear – there would be no Disney World. Can you imagine the millions of people being robbed of their happy childhood memories and family vacations?

Q: Fascinating. Can you share a few more lessons that can help leaders in their quest to conquer change management?

Ms. Dempsey: Definitely. Here are three more lessons:

Heighten your awareness  It is the key to any behavioral change. A good example of this would be learning to manage your energy, not your time. Your energy is critical for sustaining success.

Take a recharge break every 90 minutes  Research shows that in workplaces where regular breaks are encouraged, productivity increases and rates of sickness decrease.

Focus your energy on things you can control or influence  Why? Ask yourself – where do most of us waste our energy? On things we have no control over. A good reminder: make a conscious effort not to let control issues rob you of your precious time and energy. Instead, strive to focus only on the things that you have control over today.

Opportunity Which fear can you embrace in the next 10 days? Keep in mind that the cure for fear is – action. How can you take a page from Walt Disney’s life and make that fear your friend? Next, take a look at the short TED Talk with Nilofer Merchant that is part of this article. Her key lesson: Got a meeting? Take a walk. You may be surprised how fresh air can drive fresh thinking.

Q: What is the “Losada Line” and how can it be a strategic tool for leadership teams?

Dr. Cofield: The Losada Ratio was developed by a well-known organizational psychologist, Dr. Marcial Losada. He studied over fifty companies, utilizing verbatim transcripts of strategic planning meetings. He discovered that the most successful companies have a predictable three to one ratio of positive to negative interactions between team members. That is, for every critical interaction, there needs to be at least three positive ones in order to offset the negativity. Companies that fell below 3:1 P/N (positive/negative ratio) were shown to function much more poorly in terms of productivity and profit. Thus, increasing a company’s P/N can yield huge benefits.

Q: What types of advantages can work teams that fall within the optimum zone deliver to their business and organizations?

Dr. Cofield: Well, one example is a mining company that Losada’s group worked with and reported on. The company was losing a significant degree of productivity and profit every month. However, once some relatively simple “P/N” strategies were implemented amongst the managers, they saw a 40% increase in productivity at the end of the year. The company’s CEO wrote an extremely grateful letter praising the organizational intervention efforts and giving them great credit for essentially turning the company’s productivity around.

Q: What are one or two good strategies work teams can use immediately to get closer to the optimum ratio, and will stand the test of time?

Dr. Cofield: One technique that has been utilized is the implementation of an “E-ppreciation” strategy. Each team member is asked to write a very brief message of appreciation to a different team member on a daily basis, or at least three times per week.

Secondly, a very effective communication strategy known as “DPR” or Dynamic Positive Responding, teaches team members and supervisors how to “celebrate” good news, rather than focusing exclusively on negative input.

Q: What is a good resource that work teams can use to monitor when they want to gain a deeper understanding of this area or monitor what is on the horizon?

Dr. Cofield: One excellent website is “AuthenticHappiness.com”. It contains a variety of self-assessment tools free of charge. They measure such success-related workplace attributes as personal optimism and “grit” or the tendency to “stick to it” on the job, regardless of the challenges.

Opportunity Do you have a team that can benefit from one of these techniques? If so, have the team report progress, within the first two months of their effort to keep the momentum going.

The personal touch combined with excellent client service has built today’s most successful businesses and can do the same for your company. Here are 5 ways to develop a lasting relationship that will add value to your business on many levels as 2015 gets underway:

Spread the word. Let your clients know what you’re doing for them. This can be through an e-newsletter, select press releases, a traditional newsletter, or it could be more informal by picking up the phone and calling to touch base. Regardless of the method you use, remember to point out to clients the excellent service you are providing them.

Share information. Have you read anew book, spotted an article, or
heard about an association a client might be interested in? Send them a quick note or give them a call to let them know.

Recognize special occasions. Remember to send regular client birthday
cards, anniversary cards, holiday cards, etc. Thoughtful gifts can also be excellent
follow-up options. It is not necessary to spend a fortune to show you care;
use your creativity and if time is tight, test the waters with something as simple as an electronic greeting from Hallmark.

Follow up on client service issues.Voice mail, e-mail, and even Twitter make it easy to communicate, but the personal touch can be lost. If you’re having trouble getting through to a client whose issue requires that personal contact, leave a voice-mail message that you want to talk to the client directly or will stop by his or her office at a specific time.

Reconnect with old clients. Take out the pen and write your clients from the past a personal,  handwritten note. Carve out time when you find yourself on a flight, train ride, or waiting for a business meeting to begin and spend a few minutes reaching out. Another opportunity might include running into an old client at an event. This is a chance to follow up with a simple note: “It was wonderful seeing you at the holiday party. I’ll call you early in the New Year to schedule a lunch.”

In the end, staying connected with your clients is one of most strategic investments of time that can be made.

OPPORTUNITY

Identify how you or your leaders will connect with your business’ top 5 clients this week.  Make sure a connection is made with each of them in the next 10 days.

Ms. Zimmerman:  Resilience is often described as a learnable mindset that predisposes us to “bounce back” in the face of loss or adversity. Resilient leaders, however, do more than bounce back—they bounce, and in certain cases, leap forward.  They respond to new challenges, even as they maintain the routine operations of the organizations they lead. In addition, resilient leaders quickly get a second wind, and when they see that the status quo is not optimal, they use it to move mountains and build remarkable organizations.

Q:  Is resiliency a critical trait for leaders of today and tomorrow?

Ms. Zimmerman:   Resiliency has been a critical trait for leaders throughout history.  In fact, if you look at leaders in any field of endeavor, whether business or political, we find that many have experienced tremendous setbacks, suffered great adversity, and yet never succumbed for long.  Eventually, they overcame their challenges, and went on to great achievements.  Examples include Abraham Lincoln, who battled severe clinical depression, and Martin Luther King, who overcame tremendous obstacles to lead the country in a better direction. Or, Steve Jobs who coped with cancer as he created one of the greatest companies in the world.

Q:  What advantages do resilient leaders deliver to their businesses and organizations?

Ms. Zimmerman:  Though there are many advantages, two in particular come to mind, and involve recognized leaders whose companies touch our daily lives.

First, resilient leaders model resilient behavior to other employees.  In essence, they serve as an inspiration as others see how resilient leaders deal with adversity, overcome challenges, and move forward in spite of these instances.  One such leader is Howard Schultz who regained his position as Starbucks CEO in 2008.

In the darkest days of the recession, many analysts and media outlets had written Starbucks off.  However, armed with a positive mind-set and a business mantra which included: always challenge the old ways, Mr. Schultz returned financial discipline, bottom-line efficiency, and a back-to-basics focus to the company.

For example, the company had been losing tens of millions of dollars a year by pouring excess steamed milk down the drain.  By simply putting a serrated internal ring inside a pitcher to guide how much milk a barista can use for a latte, Starbucks saved millions.  As with Steve Jobs at Apple, Starbuck’s second act, led by Howard Schultz, turned the company’s iconic brand around.

And second, resilient leaders tend to be more optimistic and purposeful.  This can lead to a positive emotional “contagion” effect on a work team, and cause other team members to get “caught up” in the energy that results.

One leading practitioner of empowerment management, John Mackey, the co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, Inc. believes that purpose inspires people.  This has been his belief since opening his first food store in 1978, and has helped build his business into a $10 billion Fortune 500 company that is now one of the top supermarket firms in America.

Q:  What are three good tips you can share and that leaders can use immediately to boost their resiliency?

Ms. Zimmerman:  Initially, leaders need to familiarize themselves with the benefits of resilience learning, and do a careful self-analysis to gain some perspective.  The formula is as follows:

Understanding Your strengths + Understanding Your Weaknesses = Resilient Strength

Next, leaders need to immerse themselves in the subject of learned optimism.  The research shows that rational, learned optimism, like any other attribute and skill, can be cultivated.

Optimism is one of the single greatest predictors of resilience, and is correlated highly with positive outcomes in virtually every field of human endeavor.  Consider the following quote from Dean Becker, the President and CEO of Adaptiv Learning Systems in Harvard Business Review: “More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. That’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and it’s true in the boardroom.”

Finally, leaders need to learn some concrete tools, and then take action.  Understanding resiliency abstractly is a necessary but insufficient condition for success.  Many of the resiliency building tools available to individuals and companies are simple to implement, but must be practiced on a regular basis in order to take effect.

Opportunity

Who will you inspire with your optimistic outlook today or before the upcoming holidays?  You could: Identify one person inside your business or organization that has inspired you or others, and thank them for it.