Your boss wants you to be:
- Relentlessly focused on making your numbers and completing projects or initiatives in a timely, responsible fashion.
- Well aware of the particular numbers or initiatives that are of critical importance to him or her. Are you fluent in those numbers?
- On top of the pulse of your organization, and of your customer and client base. You should know where the stress points are and what’s being done about them.
- Clear on where the business is going in the broader sense and in the longer term & why.
- Knowledgeable about your people and their people — their strengths, weaknesses, and potential & how their jobs tied to your organization’s strategy.
- Building a following of competent people who trust you, trust each other, keep you in the loop, and feel as if you are there to help and guide without getting in the way.
- Capable of identifying problems on the horizon, analyzing them, and problem-solving effectively — either alone or in collaboration with colleagues — on a timely basis.
- Able to play well with others consistently. That is, confident enough to say what you think and also confident enough to hear, respect, and possibly integrate others’ views into your own perspective.