Dear Future Boss,
Thank you for your consideration of me and taking time to review the amazing things and experiences I’ve had in the past. If offered an opportunity, it will be my mission to impress you with work that scales excellence packaged with solid integrity. If I had one word to describe myself, I would say that I was a go-getter. For you, this is a good thing, because I won’t stop until the job is done and done correctly. However, I have learned that I work best with certain leadership styles because they are most compatible with my personality and performance style. Trust me when I say that this mutual understanding will benefit our working relationship and success.
Here are 3 ways your leadership could best support me.
I work best when I am in control of my success …
- Micromanagement ❌
- Last minute projects ❌
- Clear direction ✅
Micromanagement
I am your most valuable asset when I am in control of my own success. I like direction, but it bothers me to be micromanaged. It kills my positive vibes and creates unwanted stress. The reality is that when I am micromanaged, it becomes difficult to manage my current workload, because things are constantly being added. And due to the many distractions, I may miss a deadline or make a careless mistake. Call it what you want…just know it is not good for me. I am very much a planner and I feel accomplished when I can outline my goals and complete them in a timely manner.
Last Minute Projects
There is nothing wrong with last minute projects, but know that there is a correlation between quality and time. If you grant sufficient time to complete a task, then please expect exceptional work from me. If due to poor planning a last minute project needs my immediate attention…I’ll be honest and let you know that my work will be at minimum acceptable. Understandably, things will come up. Flexibility is key to the success of a business. I’m just trying to avoid being overstretched and burned out. I hope that you will have realistic expectations of your employees.
Clear Direction
When preparing a new dish, there is nothing more frustrating than to follow the recipe from top to bottom and have it flop. Maybe an ingredient was left out or three steps were omitted from the published version. However, the instructions led you to believe that you were going to create something great and in the end you did not.
It is the same way in the workplace. If you give me an assignment, please share the entire assignment with me. It is frustrating to complete the assignment as outlined only to find out from a colleague or someone not affiliated with your area that there are expectations for you to complete the assignment differently. Usually, I can bounce back and go with the flow. However, I feel some type of way when discussions about what I need to do are held with people that do not govern my work. I hope that we can work as a team and have a great line of communication.
Recognition is key to my success ….
- Don’t just highlight my bad ✅
- Don’t be discreet about it ✅
- Take credit for my achievements ❌
Don’t just highlight my bad
I know that I am not the best at everything. However, I take constructive criticism seriously and I will amend my current practices to avoid making the same mistakes. What I am trying to say is that positive feedback should not be limited to addressing my shortcomings. Effective constructive criticism helps my career-esteem. It adds fuel to my drive to be the best employee I can be.
Don’t be discreet about it
If something I do impresses you, I hope that you have a program to recognize my good works within the leadership of the company. Even if it is a passive mention in a conversation with someone. Something you say definitely has the potential to have a positive impact on my future with your company.
Employee attributions
The last note I want to share about employee recognition is about giving proper credit. Taking credit for something you did not do is really no different than a student who plagiarizes a written assignment. It’s not fair to the person who spent the time and the energy to complete the task that their supervisor undoubtedly took credit for. Especially in those situations when the supervisor does not acknowledge their team member’s hard-work. Ethically, it is not right. However, it happens all the time in the workplace. If we are a team and we are all working together for the success of the company…there should not be a problem with giving proper credit to the person who achieved the deadline and/or spirited innovation.
I am compensated fairly…
- Exempt Status ❌
- Gender differences in wages earned ❌
- Raises ✅
Exempt Status
Under this policy you work until you get the job done and you will not be compensated for overtime worked. When employers take advantage of this principle, employees are quick to burnout and their skills are the first to suffer. I step into this opportunity knowing that I will sacrifice time away from my family. However, if I exceed the hours of completion, please do not dismiss my time as invaluable. I can understand the exempt FSLA policy being applicable to middle-class and high-wage earners. But, it certainly should not apply to the entire population it does not protect today. Research has shown that a healthy work-life balance has positive benefits on an employee’s success within a business.
Gender salary inequalities
I’ll speak briefly to my feelings about gender salary inequalities. This matter does not receive the attention it deserves, but I do not believe it is an intentional oversight. The reality is that women and men seek and can receive the same job, but often will not receive the same award of pay. Women with the same experience and education will receive almost 50% less than their male counterpart applying for the same job. I obviously will have no way to deny or confirm this for this company, but I mention it so that you will be considerate of it when you prepare the final salary package.
Raises
Raises are wonderful and they are a great way to show your appreciation for your employee. Every year gets to be a little bit more expensive, so if I am doing well and everyone is receiving bonuses at the top…please don’t forget about us at the bottom.
Closing Remarks…
For so long I have attended many interviews and landed many cool jobs, but often felt that my supervisor didn’t understand me. This is my introvertic way of sharing how I really feel. I hope this will help us establish a healthy and successful working partnership. Like I mentioned earlier, I am passionate about what I do and if it is important to you…it will be important to me too. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Your Future Employee
If you enjoyed reading this article, please kindly share. Also, we want to hear from you! What do you want your future boss to know?
Next time I am a boss, I totally want to send this to my new employees and have them write me something like this. It might be hard to send to an employer without them asking but it would be so good to know about the people who work under me!!
Right!! As an entrepreneur, my confidence has definitely improved. So…if I do decide to work for someone else, I intend to be more transparent about expectations. But, not in a this is how it is or this is how it must work kind of way. I am just hoping for a mutual understanding and an open line of communication. But how cool would that be…if employers gave their prospective employees an opportunity to prepare something like this. 🙂
Sounds a lot like my preferences in management. There’s definitely a difference between a manager and a leader. I resonated with not being fond of micromanagement as a staff or leader!
I agree. I feel like micromanaging dampens productivity, but on the flip side some people do it and they do it well. I just can’t get with it and I think as a leader with staff, I try to be more conscious of how I want to be treated as an employee.