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Sure, you know your boss better than I do. But I do know how bosses think. As the owner of a marketing agency, I have a pretty good pulse on what your boss’ day looks like, their goals, and their challenges.
I know that we are rarely satisfied and are constantly looking to grow our business, and that we know all too well we can’t do it alone.
We need your help, and we need you to know what our expectations are. This article will help you understand what your boss wishes you knew, and how you can use it to further your career.
1) We want to trust you, but you have to earn it.
Bosses want to trust our employees, we really do. Sometimes we get a little nervous when big clients are involved, tight deadlines, etc. but that’s because there's so much on the line. If you want to earn your boss’ trust, be a total professional. If you’re airtight with all of your business communication and follow-up your boss will notice, and trust you more for it.
How to Earn Trust
If you want to earn trust, focus on doing even the little things with excellence. Take careful, detailed notes in all meetings. Send prompt follow-up emails with detailed bullets and clear next steps. Manage your task list and delivery dates, and don’t let anything slip. Find a system if your company doesn’t have one -- there is no excuse for being disorganized.
Tip: Your boss wants you to know that with professionalism comes trust, and with trust comes opportunity.
2) We love surprises. Take initiative and bring a big idea.
2) We love surprises. Take initiative and bring a big idea.
Any employee can blow us out of the water by exceeding expectations. It’s too easy to stay in your comfort zone as an employee and just do a really good job of doing what you’re told. Your comfort zone might even be really great for you. The problem is that won’t always set you apart and demonstrate real value to the organization.
We love to see our organizations grow, and we always want to grow faster. That means we want something new and fresh every day, and we'd love if those ideas came from you. We’re always looking for the next great thing and we’d love to have it dropped in our lap by our team.
How to Land That "Big Idea"
Take some initiative and find a spot you can add value with a major contribution. Come up with a big idea and work it out, bringing your idea, a plan, and a clear vision of the benefits to moving on the plan. What’s in it for us? What’s in it for our clients? Nothing will set you apart amongst your peers more than taking the ball and running with it at every opportunity.
Tip: Find a hole and fill it by identifying what’s missing in your current marketing efforts. Your boss will love that you thought of a solution before they did.
Tip: Find a hole and fill it by identifying what’s missing in your current marketing efforts. Your boss will love that you thought of a solution before they did.
Sometimes a critique on something small is reflective of another problem. Those little details that may seem trivial or one-off instances could be a symptom of a larger concern. Cutting a corner is also often seen as an employee not being bought into the larger mission -- and that maybe there would be more items you're willing to shortcut.
How to Exhibit Attention to Detail
Point out opportunities to really wow a client in little ways -- but ways that are above and beyond the normal course of business. Exhibiting attention to detail is about more than just catching mistakes and slip-ups, it's about taking things to the next level.
Tip: If you want to make your boss love you, be a marketing perfectionist.
4) We’re waiting for someone to invest their own time
The way to reach your goals is to spend the time, and to spend it on the wildly important. All of our day-to-days can eat us up and there is little time for training and continued learning when we’re chasing deadlines. What your boss wants you to know is that the more you learn and the better you get, the more valuable you will be.
How to Show Additional Investment
Because you have so much to produce while at the office, we’d love to see you invest in your own future just like we invest in you. We won’t ask you to work on your personal time very often, but we sure do appreciate the commitment and initiative employees demonstrate when an important project requires all hands on deck, above and beyond the normal course of business.
Tip: Spend a little time in the evenings reading good content on subjects you’d like to improve on. When you find something you think others on the team would value, share it with them and your boss.
5) We hate excuses, and love solutions.
No one enjoys having other people’s problems dumped on them -- mostly because everyone has problems of their own already. The key here is to work very hard at solving your own problems.
How to Avoid Excuses
I’m not saying you shouldn’t take important issues and problems to your boss, but you should take them to your boss in the right fashion. When you have a problem, make sure you present the concern along with some suggested courses of action. Put your boss in a position to help you quickly and efficiently while building your confidence.
Tip: Next time you have a crisis, don’t freak out, run into your boss’ office, and dump it in his or her lap. Instead, think of a few possible solutions and present the issue and your suggestions. Even if none of those solutions are spot-on correct, it'll give us a place to start thinking through solutions together.
You Can Do All of This
The good news is you don’t have to have some magic talent or 15 years of experience to get where you want to go. Marketing firms today are hiring younger and hungrier employees than ever before. With fantastic training tools like those offered in the HubSpot Knowledge Base, new hires can get up to speed very quickly.
With the ever-changing online marketing landscape, there's a huge opportunity for any employee of any age to really excel in their roles and get the promotions they’re dreaming of, if they have the drive and discipline to learn and adapt.
Above all your boss wants you to know that if you want something, you have the opportunity to earn it. If you want to earn it, here’s a simple formula to keep in mind:
More Initiative = More Production = More Value = More Opportunity
We don’t play favorites, we don’t waste money, and we can’t wait to see you succeed. Today’s inbound marketing companies are the complete opposite of the traditional firms your Don Drapers worked for. We reward and promote based on performance and potential.
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