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Aneta Key shares an evergreen article that explains how to play boss and the benefits gained from doing so.

This blog post is a part of a larger Success habits collection that demystifies the “secret sauce” expectations that define a high performer at work. In this specific blog post, I illustrate the idea of taking top management perspective, which I defined in an earlier blog post.

Play the boss for a moment

Executives have a long list of expectations, all linked to taking a top management perspective. 

To understand where these expectations come from, let’s play a game: Imagine that you are a very senior executive at a large railway company.  

Take a moment to imagine your office surroundings: the comfortable executive chair, the gorgeous views from your corner office, the smell of the fresh coffee. Can you hear the office chatter behind the doors?

Of course, you have 14 appointments in your very busy day, you are running behind, and you have to squeeze in an emergency meeting instead of lunch. Can you also hear the sounds of your empty stomach?

Your lunchtime meeting

You meet a newly promoted manager who is in charge of a perfectly straight stretch of train tracks in your railway system. He wants you to approve his recommendation to let a fast train pass through the stretch. His argument is very logical: Here you have an empty, straight stretch of rails, why not use it?

As an executive, you consider the recommendation in light of these 3 bigger-picture factors: 

Just beyond that rail stretch, there is a busy train track interchange, and if you simply let a fast train pass, it may cause a collision

Another train may have to be delayed to give the right of way to the fast train, costing the company money

The tracks farther down the road are being replaced today by a different manager’s team, and the fast train would derail if it passes

What is your decision, now that you take a top management perspective rather than the manager’s siloed view? 

Key points include:

• Practice shrewd empathy
• Offering advice to management
• Top management perspective vs. a manager’s siloed view

Read the full article, Walk in the boss’s shoes, on AedeaPartners.com.