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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Price 
 
 
Question: 
 
My boss often talks about processes and goals. However, she seems to 
think they don't apply to her. How can I influence a change? 
 
Answer: 
 
I often have people want to talk to me about improving their 
relationship with their boss. In the context of this, one of the questions 
that often comes up is, “My boss believes in goals and processes and 
sets all of those things, but he or she sometimes thinks they live 
outside of that realm because they’re always throwing new things at 
me.”  
 
I chuckle, because I am a boss, and I can be guilty of that myself. I 
can tell you how I have worked with my employees, and it’s worked 
really well, and I think it can work for you also. 
 
There are three different ideas—or, three different steps—that you 
want to develop. 
 
The first step is to have a discussion with your boss about the key 
results that reflect superior performance in your job. Ask your boss to 
define for you what results at the end of the year—or six months, or 
whenever—if those results existed your boss would say, “Wow, you’re 
super! You’ve done a terrific job!” That’s the first step. 
 
The second step is to identify times that you can get together to check 
up on how that’s going. This gives you a great opportunity to get back 
into focus and make sure that things haven’t changed, and that your 
 
 
boss is still committed to the processes and the goals that the two of 
you agreed to earlier.  
 
The third step is when your boss brings something new to the table 
that doesn’t fit in with one of these key results, you can ask the 
innocent question, “How does this thing that you’re asking me to do fit 
in with these key results that you told me would reflect superior 
performance?” 
 
At that point, you can either renegotiate what the key results are, in 
which maybe you let one go to pick another one up, or your boss 
might say, “On second thought, I want you to get those key results. 
Put all your focus and time there.”  
 
That’s a great way to help your boss live by the process, the goals, the 
rules that he or she thinks you ought to be living by as well.  
Price -2- 
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