Transcripts

B.J. Gallagher:
Your boss is always giving you signals about what's important - you can tell by what's in your boss's office. If your boss has lots of diplomas and awards and degrees that boss is oriented by power and achievement.

B.J. Gallagher, author of the book Yes Lives in the Land of No…

And if you know that about the boss, then you can point out how giving you a "yes" will help get them more power - because the question is always what's in it for them. If on the other hand, your boss has pictures of the company softball team, pictures of their pets, their family - that boss is motivated by affiliation and that boss needs to be popular. And so you say if we do this, boy it's really going to win points with the troops.

If your boss has charts and graphs and sales figures on his wall…

That boss is really oriented by achievement more than anything else. The three things that bosses are motivated by are: power, affiliation and achievement. So, once you know that, then you've got that leverage and you simply speak their language to turn that "no" around.

And getting what you want from your boss is also a matter of good timing.

So by paying attention to when is the boss most receptive - in the morning when he's got his coffee, or is your boss someone who is better in the afternoon? Timing is everything.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.