Heads up: Bad news coming

My friend Neil has a high-powered boss who inspires and impresses him, but she’s also someone he has to “manage up.”

If something potentially negative happens in his work, he gives his boss a heads up, even if he’s exposing something that may reflect poorly on him.

“You may be hearing about this,” he says, or maybe “heads up, there’s an issue that may land on your desk.”

This achieves two things.

First, he makes her aware, helps her to feel “in the know.” No one likes surprises, especially people with high expectations of their team.

Second, he pre-suades her. By getting to his boss first, he sets a “mental anchor.”

The first thing you hear about a topic becomes an anchor in your mind that biases future opinions. Here’s Dilbert’s version:

Source: RealClear.com