Thank you for your encouragement! I credit my client for asking about how she could have a better relationship with her manager. That takes humility and then courage to try something new. I'm sure she'll get a lot out of the article. You've done a great job.
Very interesting article! Several months ago, I was working with a client who asked me this exact question: "No matter what type of information I give her, my manager always seems unhappy...how can I improve our relationship?"
We walked through a few scenarios and identified her manager's patterns. Turned out her manager wanted a plan to make progress, but my client was always presenting background details and thinking that they would discuss a plan together.
It also turned out that she wanted a relationship, but her manager was very task-focused. Once we talked through these differences and made a game plan to approach the manager differently, everything changed. Things are much better in the office now.
I plan to forward this article to her to see if there's anything else in it that catches her eye. Thank you for discussing this very interesting concept.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I love hearing real examples of this in action.
The scenario you described is such a perfect illustration of how easy it is to misread what's happening. Your client was probably thinking she was being thorough and collaborative by sharing all the background and co-creating solutions. Meanwhile, her manager was sitting there thinking "just tell me the plan!" Neither person was wrong, they were just operating on completely different levels.
And the task-based vs. relationship-based dimension you identified is huge. It's one of those things that can feel personal (why won't my manager connect with me?) when really it's just a difference in how they build trust. Once your client understood that and stopped taking it personally, I bet that alone reduced so much friction.
I hope she finds this article helpful. And honestly, the work you did helping her decode those patterns in real time is exactly the kind of thing that makes a massive difference in someone's career. Thank you for sharing this story!
Thank you for your encouragement! I credit my client for asking about how she could have a better relationship with her manager. That takes humility and then courage to try something new. I'm sure she'll get a lot out of the article. You've done a great job.
Very interesting article! Several months ago, I was working with a client who asked me this exact question: "No matter what type of information I give her, my manager always seems unhappy...how can I improve our relationship?"
We walked through a few scenarios and identified her manager's patterns. Turned out her manager wanted a plan to make progress, but my client was always presenting background details and thinking that they would discuss a plan together.
It also turned out that she wanted a relationship, but her manager was very task-focused. Once we talked through these differences and made a game plan to approach the manager differently, everything changed. Things are much better in the office now.
I plan to forward this article to her to see if there's anything else in it that catches her eye. Thank you for discussing this very interesting concept.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I love hearing real examples of this in action.
The scenario you described is such a perfect illustration of how easy it is to misread what's happening. Your client was probably thinking she was being thorough and collaborative by sharing all the background and co-creating solutions. Meanwhile, her manager was sitting there thinking "just tell me the plan!" Neither person was wrong, they were just operating on completely different levels.
And the task-based vs. relationship-based dimension you identified is huge. It's one of those things that can feel personal (why won't my manager connect with me?) when really it's just a difference in how they build trust. Once your client understood that and stopped taking it personally, I bet that alone reduced so much friction.
I hope she finds this article helpful. And honestly, the work you did helping her decode those patterns in real time is exactly the kind of thing that makes a massive difference in someone's career. Thank you for sharing this story!