90-Day New Job Plan: Understanding Your Boss

Building a Strong Boss Relationship

• 🎯 The relationship with your boss is the most critical at work, even more so than relationships with direct reports.
• ⚠️ Bosses may not always make it easy to understand them, sometimes stating they don't want to manage you, which can lead to communication challenges.
• 💡 The goal in the first 90 days is to avoid friction and failure, not necessarily to hit home runs.

Key Information to Gather About Your Boss

• 👥 Learn the names of your boss's peers to better understand the context of their work and discussions.
• 📊 Obtain an organizational chart of your boss, their peers, and their boss to understand reporting structures.
• ☕ Identify your boss's preferences, such as whether they are a reader or a listener, their preferred communication methods, and decision-making style.
• ⏰ Understand preferences regarding meeting times, punctuality, and work-life balance.
• 🤝 Observe whether your boss operates on trust, trust-but-verify, or requires constant oversight.

Supporting Your Boss's Success

• 🛠️ Your role includes making your boss more effective, even if you are at a higher level.
• 🩹 If your boss has weaknesses (e.g., abrasive, poor with details), mitigate these impacts by smoothing waters or ensuring details are accurate.
• 🚀 Never try to make your boss look bad; their failures reflect poorly on you and your entire organization.
• ✅ Focus on making your boss successful, as their success is directly tied to your own.

Analyzing Your Boss's DISC Profile

• 🔍 Analyzing your boss's DISC profile can be a powerful bonus for understanding their behavior.
• 🗣️ Pay attention to communication styles, tone, length of emails, and word choice to infer their DISC type (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness).
• ⚠️ Be cautious of incorrectly categorizing a boss as a high 'D' simply because they can be direct or dismissive with subordinates; this is a common analytical mistake.
• ⏳ It's recommended to observe behavior over 90 days before definitively categorizing a boss's DISC profile, especially for senior roles that often involve higher risk tolerance.

Navigating the Post-Recruiting Landscape

• 🔄 Do not assume that the positive interactions during the recruiting process accurately predict the day-to-day reality of working for your new boss.
• ⚖️ Reset your expectations to zero and focus on learning your new boss's actual working style and preferences.