Your boss’s boss has a boss, that has an ask !
Your boss’s boss has a boss, that has an ask !
Interesting conversations from the past in my consultancy days, summarised and adapted for context. It is a call we all have in our working lives.
Senior Director, I was very impressed how you presented all the information yesterday. I know you were standing in for your boss, and well done.
By the way, I need you to pick this ask up and understand that this is an important request. I know you are standing in for your boss. If you could do this for me, it would really help, and we require XYZ, so we can present it to your boss’s, boss, who has a bossy boss blah blah.
Me, Yes, I have picked this up. I am also dealing with your bosses request which is urgent for today. I am prioritising the asks, how about you lead on this, whilst I do your bosses request, and we can catch up afterwards.
Senior Director response, Oh, my boss has come out to you. Well, oh, well, yes, I would rather not stretch you. Ermmm….this is still significant, though.
Summary: People will constantly try to lean on others to do their work. In some cases, they will use authority and rank. In the end, we can only do so much firefighting.