1. 12 Working Styles of Bosses
& How to keep them happy
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip. Based on “How to Manage Your Boss” by Ros Jay
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012)

2. As bosses come in different shapes and sizes, their
working styles are also different. Identify your boss’s
working style so that you can do your best to fit in and
learn how to keep your boss happy

3. 1 Bureaucratic
Characteristic
 This boss sticks to the rules
and likes paperwork
 He is not a great risk-taker
How to keep your Boss happy
 Put things in writing and stick
to the rules yourself
 Don’t bother putting forward
any proposals involving major
risks
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 3

4. 2 Laid Back
Characteristic
 Results are more important to this
boss than dotting i’s and crossing t’s
 So long as things are going well, he
won’t be too concerned with details
How to keep your Boss happy
 Don’t bother this boss with
petty details
 Just focus on getting the
results he wants
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 4

5. 3 Consultative
Characteristic
 This type of boss is likely to
involve you in decisions, projects
and information and keep you in
the loop
How to keep your Boss happy
 Don’t be secretive around this
boss
 He won’t bothered with every
detail of what you do but he will
want your general approach to
be as open as his
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 5

6. 4 Non-Consultative
Characteristic
 Quite the opposite, this boss never
tells you what’s going on until he
decides that you need to know
 While his judgment may often be right
(if frustrating), sometimes you need to
know more than he realizes
How to keep your Boss happy
 Don’t ask for information you don’t
require
 If you do need to know something,
explain why, so he realizes your
need to know
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 6

7. 5 Concerned with detail
Characteristic
 Not the same as being bureaucratic,
although it often goes alongside it
 This boss will breathe down your
neck most of the time, always
wanting to know the nitty-gritty of
what you’re doing and why
How to keep your Boss happy
 Give this boss plenty of progress
reports and supply all the details he
wants
 This will make him feel he can trust
you
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 7

8. 6 Focused on the big picture
Characteristic
 This boss doesn’t want to be
hassled with minor details
 He is concerned with objectives and
results and how they are achieved is
your concern, not his
How to keep your Boss happy
 Don’t trouble him with small things -
use your initiative
 Express ideas and suggestions in
terms of the objectives and results
that interest this boss
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 8

9. 7 Creative
Characteristic
 Originality and inventiveness are what
grab this boss and he wants ideas and
creative suggestions from you about
everything from how to double sales to
a novel approach to the office party
How to keep your Boss happy
 Learn from him and from other
sources such as books on how to
exercise your creative mind so you
can approach problems and
challenges in the same way the boss
does
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 9

10. 8 Logical
Characteristic
 This boss likes all ideas and
suggestions to be based on logical
reasoning, not on creative leaps of
the imagination
 Facts and figures should back up
every argument
How to keep your Boss happy
 Make sure you have data to justify
every proposal or solution you
bring to this boss
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 10

11. 9 Organized
Characteristic
 A tidy desk and a well-kept planner
or diary are the hallmarks of this
boss
 He likes plenty of lists and always
knows what the priorities are, both
short and long term
How to keep your Boss happy
 Look organized yourself
 This boss won’t believe you can
work effectively if your desk is a
mess and you are always late for
meetings
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 11

12. 10 Unorganized
Characteristic
 This boss may work very effectively but he
doesn’t look it
 Papers all over the place, always wondering
where he is supposed to be next and never
quite appearing to be on top of the job
How to keep your Boss happy
 Learn to anticipate what he wants because
he won’t
 Give him plenty of warnings and reminders
before deadlines or important meetings but
don’t give the impression you’re nannying
him (unless you know he likes it)
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 12

13. 11 Proactive
Characteristic
 New projects get this boss
excited and he is always
looking to initiate schemes
and ideas
How to keep your Boss happy
 Show enthusiasm for his ideas
and be ready with plenty of
your own, geared towards key
objectives (yours and your
boss’s)
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 13

14. 12 Reactive
Characteristic
 This boss spends more time responding to
issues and ideas than initiating new ones
 So he tends to be more thoughtful and less
inclined to take risks (it is not unusual for
him also to be the bureaucratic type)
How to keep your Boss happy
 Don’t try to get him to launch
endless new projects
 Instead, concentrate on getting the
job done thoroughly and seeing
things through to completion
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 14

15. In conclusion . . .
 Whether your boss’s working style is
included in this list or not, you would
know by now that it is not hard to
keep your boss happy once you have
identified his working style
 It is really about how you work in
relation to your boss, not how you
work when you are left alone
 After you know what is your boss’s
style, you can maintain a good
relationship with him when you know
the answer the following 3 questions:
 What impresses your boss?
 What winds your boss up?
 How your boss likes you to work?
Prepared by : Wong Yew Yip (November 2012) 15