Due to the positive reception that a similar post received earlier, here’s another lesson learnt by working with smart people in large organizations.
TL:DR – it’s better for your career if you approach management not just with problems but with possible solutions, their tradeoffs, and your recommendation.
This too is from two decades when for a brief time I was reporting to someone two management tiers above me. It was a temporary situation as our territory was in transition and the department head was stepping in.
I had just come across a difficult situation where I needed his help to overcome internal resistance, and perhaps a partner issue. Immediately after encountering that issue over the phone, I rushed to this gent’s office and knocked. He let me in even though he had one of his direct reports (a people manager) with him.
I blurted out the whole story perhaps with too much emotion, and he patiently listened to me. The other gent in the room just looked at me with perhaps an amused expression which I didn’t understand at that time.
After my “Once upon a time” story had finished, my manager asked me a few questions:
– What’s the impact of this & how urgent is it (revenue impact)?
– What are our options?
– What do you think we should and why?
And once I had given him my answers to these, he nodded his head and asked me to go ahead.
As I was leaving the room, the other gent stopped me and gave me some advice. He said that it would be helpful if I approached management not just with the problem but the possible solution(s) as well. That would make the interaction more productive.
I’m sure that my career trajectory at that organization was helped by me taking that advice onboard. It just made sense. I’m the CEO of my territory – even as an individual contributor. I’d have the most knowledge about the situation even if I don’t have the most holistic perspective. What I’d need then is validation of my thought process and decision. That would then help my manager scale and prepare me for bigger things.
Some lessons, they just stick with you.