One of the most disconcerting situations for an employee to deal with is getting a new boss. Whether you loved or hated the last one, there is some uncertainty about how to get off on the right foot. You may have had a great relationship with your former boss or the relationship may have been strained. Either way, this is a new, blank slate and it’s up to you to make the best of it.

I once worked at a company that got a new CEO and there was practically a stampede of employees trying to make a good impression on him. That’s what NOT to do. So how should mature, non-weasley people behave when they have a new boss?

1. Let go of any lingering resentments if you feel you or a colleague should have had the new boss’s job instead. It’s difficult, but let that go. Going into a new work relationship with that kind of baggage won’t do anyone any good.

2. Don’t present yourself as the expert on all things. You might think you’re getting a kick-start on making yourself invaluable to the new boss, but just give the guy some breathing room. If the new boss has questions, he’ll ask. It’s okay to volunteer to take care of some small tasks while he’s getting his sea legs, but don’t try to influence any of the bigger initiatives he’s just learning about.

3. Try to refrain from apple-polishing/brown-nosing/boot-licking/favor-currying. Hold off for a while before you besiege the new boss. If you’re good at your job, the new boss will find out. 

You’d be surprised what she probably already knows about you.

In a perfect world, the one that exists solely between my ears, excessive brown-nosing would just flat out not work. But, of course, we all know that there are people out there who eat that kind of false adulation up, those who can convince themselves that employee fawning is more of a recognition of their sparkling intelligence and business savvy rather than an awareness of their ability to hire, fire, and demote.

If your new boss is shrewd, the initial fawning behavior will send up a red flag. Over-eager people have an agenda and a savvy boss will know it right off.

We’re living in a time when you almost never see a person who doesn’t have a cell phone or bluetooth device plastered to the side of their head. And texting has become such a common practice that I see millions of people 40 years from now applying for disability benefits for their thumbs. But in the case of job interviews, this common behavior is not acceptable.
I shouldn’t have to say this. I shouldn’t have to tell people not to text or take calls during interviews. You would think even the youngest of job candidates would know not to text a thank you note to an interviewer. But, unfortunately, this behavior does happen.

 Some people are on their best behavior during the interview but are busy calling and texting their brains out in the receptionist area before an interview. Good instinct, but be aware that executive assistants are often taking note of a job candidate’s behavior and may interpret your constant use of the PDA as a sign that you’re unfocused or easily distracted, instead of industrious.
Unless you work for the secret service or you’re waiting for a kidney, I think it’s safe to be out of range for a little while.

I’d like to hear from some hiring managers about some of the more egregious behavior they’ve seen while interviewing job candidates.

Every day, we form new and manage existing relationships with those around us.  Managing relationships can be extremely difficult and it’s important to realize that not every relationship has to be maintained at the same level.  Some people, either by their actions, perceptions, or their positions, matter only as it pertains to service levels.  Others, though, matter a great deal more. 
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Before I start, let me say that when I say that someone “doesn’t matter” as much as someone else, I’m not trying to imply that they don’t deserve as much air as the person next to them; instead, I mean that they don’t hold significant importance in my personal happiness or professional success.

Perhaps my biggest flaw as a person is my desire (need?) to be liked by those around me.  This isn’t really all that uncommon, of course.  Deep, deep down, I think that most people want to be liked on some level; we’re social creatures, after all.  For me, though, I tend to take personally too much that should be kept professional.  Oh, over time, I figure out how to move most things into that “professional” box and out of the “personal” box, but it can often take a few sleepless nights before I get there.

Over the past few years, I’ve been working in my first executive role as a VP/CIO.  Prior to becoming a CIO, I held multiple IT Director positions where I reported to an executive level officer.

What have I learned about relationships in these roles?

Obviously, relationships with people really define us and our work.  Personally, I believe that it’s important to do what it takes to make relationships successful, but only up to a point.  At some point, it’s time to throw in the towel and invest energy elsewhere.
I’ve also learned a couple of other things.  First, I don’t need to have great, beer-drinking, joke-telling relationships with all of my executive peers.  Second, I don’t need great relationships with every single division and department director in the organization.  Instead, I need to make sure to maintain adequate relationships with the right people in the organization in order to ensure organizational success, or at least be able to work around those with whom a relationship isn’t likely.  By “right people” I’m not saying that every person and every position isn’t important; after all, if someone is employed by the organization, they have an important task to perform.  What I am saying, though, is that I have come to realize that I’m not going to be liked or respected by everyone in the organization and I’m not going to have a great relationship with everyone in the organization.
Example: There is another VP in my organization that goes out of his way to rail on IT constantly and for no particular reason.  To be fair, he does this to everyone, so he’s not picking on me exclusively.  Although he’s a VP in the organization, he’s marginalized, due to the fact that his division isn’t that strategic and he’s simply one voice at the executive table when it comes time to discuss issues.  I will say that, as people, we get along fine.  As peers, we rarely see eye to eye, and that’s OK.

For quite some, though, I did take this person’s comments very personally, wondering what I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to correct the problem.  One day, though, I finally realized that it wasn’t about me.  I don’t try anymore to persuade him when it comes to agreeing to new initiatives from IT nor do I engage him when I need advice on something in the organization.  The overall impact: My stress level went down.  Nothing else happened.  Work stayed the same; my job didn’t end up on the line.  Status quo, except I was happier. That said, when he has a genuine concern about a service we provided, or when he needs something from IT, I’m all ears.  I’m not going to use this issue to punish him or his division; that would be more than short-sighted and relatively unprofessional.  But, I do minimize my interactions with him.  So, in the sense that I want to make sure my group provides good service, this person matters, but in the context of my happiness and self-worth, not so much.
Another example: Over my few years as the CIO at my company, I’ve had to do some things that truly ticked off a few people in the organization.  Change is very hard and the IT department when I arrived in my job was a mess and needed an overhaul.  Some of the steps that I took to clean up the mess (i.e., firing the dead wood) resulted in destroyed relationships with other people in the organization who liked the people as people (as did I, but as employees, not so much). Those people saw my actions as a major failure, have never let it go and, as a result, don’t like me.  Again, looking back, I’ve realized that my overall job performance and the performance of my team has not been impacted either by their anger or by my actions.  In fact, the overall productivity of the IT department is now higher than it was before.  When I need to work with these people now, it’s strictly professional – get the job done and get out – but it’s workable.  I don’t invest a lot of time in trying to improve these relationships anymore.  To do so is energy wasted that is better spent elsewhere.

By the way, on the other side of the equation, many, many people were happy with the action taken, including the CEO, so it’s always a mixed bag.

Of course, there are some relationships that are absolutely essential to maintain.  In fact, they’re so important that failure to maintain them would be career limiting.  In my case, I maintain a very good relationship with my CEO and CFO, and I don’t fake it.  The three of us have a genuinely good rapport and work extremely well together.  I also have excellent relationships with the two VPs responsible for sales and other revenue.  Obviously, those positions are extremely important to the success of the organization and failure to keep them strongly intact would be poor form.

I also have a great many other people in the organization with whom I’ve developed very positive working relationships; there really aren’t that many that don’t like me (after all, if everyone hated me, it would be difficult to get anything done).  With these people, though, I have a great sounding board for ideas and even the occasional lunch partner.  It also keeps me in touch with the user base and their reasonable concerns can sometimes act as the canary in the coal mine for looming larger issues.

I’ve learned that although everyone matters to some degree (i.e. Are we providing you with good service?), not everyone matters when it comes to defining my success and the success of my organization and my own self-worth.  Some people, by their position, do matter while others matter because they’ve become trusted allies, confidants or friends.

It’s hard to turn around years of conditioning and make these leaps, but the overall leap has been an important part of my overall development, both as a CIO and as a happier person in general.  Trying to make everyone happy and keep them that way is a losing battle likely resulting in failure, both personally and professionally.  Develop and maintain the relationships that truly matter.

Remember back in the old days when deciding what color paper to put your resume on was the one of the most challenging tasks in your job search?
The good news is that there are now 4,126 zillion new tools for getting the word out on your amazing accomplishments and your general brilliance. The bad news is, well, the same as the good news.

LinkedIn, Facebook, personal branding Web sites, search engine optimization… it’s all there for the taking. The problem is utilizing all of these tools can be a full-time job if you do it the right way.

I found some good tips on U.S. News & World Report’s Web site for the eight best ways to buff your professional image. So, put on your PR hat and take notes. Here’s the synopsis:

1. Google yourself. You should Google your name to see what others will see if they do the same. They say this helps you circumvent a doppelganger whom people might mistake for you, or other material that clutters the career-enhancing results you want people to see. (For example, in my case, the other Toni Bowers is a PhD from Stanford who specializes in eighteenth-century British literature and culture. I’m not above riding her career coattails, but she might want to distance herself from me.)

2. Choose the right professional name. If you have a common name, like Jane Smith, you can start differentiating yourself by adding a middle initial every time you refer to yourself online.

3. Use credentials consistently. Be sure to add all MCSEs and CCNAs to your résumé, bio, business card, and so on, and do so consistently.

4. Create public profiles. The author of the piece, Eileen P. Gunn, makes a great point when she says that sites like LinkedIn and Facebook let you promote your professional credentials in popular places without running the risk of having your boss see your resume on job-specific boards like Monster or HotJobs.

5. Build a Web site. This is a good idea if you do a lot of public speaking or technical writing.

6. Create links. Gunn suggests that you drive traffic to yourself by using hyperlinks “to guide users from your corporate bio to your LinkedIn profile to your blog, and vice versa — creating your own self-referring network.”

7. Become an expert. Gunn recommends that you start your own blog or contribute to others. I was feeling kind of ahead of the game until she added this part: “Be insightful and thought provoking (without burning bridges). Be smart, and keep within the bounds of good taste.” (I think that ship may already have sailed for me.)

8. Push the bad stuff out of sight. By “getting the word out on yourself,” we mean professionally. Potential hirers don’t need to see that picture of you from the Kentucky Derby infield holding a mint julep as big as Secretariat.

Bottom line for IT professionals

Think of yourself as your own PR staff. If you have a lot of career accomplishments under your belt, now is the time to make sure the word gets out.