In the perfectionist world of Japan’s sushi culture, the patient grind is not just a virtue, but a prerequisite process. Over the course of up to 10 years, the sushi master and apprentice work side-by-side in a mentorship built on earned trust; the latter will handle prep work for years before ever touching the fish. All the while, there is an exchange of experience and meticulous labor, of strict discipline and reverence, until at last the prestigious title of master is conferred from teacher to student — an ultimate act of trust rooted in the upper echelons of culinary pride.
While the temporal expectations and stringent standards between tech companies in New York and the sushi temples of Japan might differ, there are common threads to fostering a professional relationship with managers. Trust is a bilateral street where goodwill and proactivity can translate to a dynamic of frictionless workflow and career development. Within the scope of the employee’s role, this means keeping managers up to date on potential pitfalls, personal objectives or necessary extensions. In turn, managers feel more comfortable granting autonomy as a sign of trust.
In any given tech company, a manager is the team member with whom most employees work closest, so a positive and strong rapport generally means higher job satisfaction, especially in the day-to-day. Like with many relationships, some find authenticity helpful in building a strong foundation.
“You will have a lot to discuss in your new working role, but make sure to spend the time to get to know the person,” said Alex Heller, head of sales and account management at NYSHEX.
For direct reports, how much success they can distill from the relationship also depends on how clearly they can express expectations for basic functions like one-on-ones and managerial styles. The job of a leader, according to Harvard Business Review, is empowering the people they guide to realize their full potential. Employees can expedite the process by bringing teachable moments to meetings or communicating ideas for actionable feedback and support preferences.
The quality of managerial relationships can make or break a direct report’s job experience. Built In NYC asked two tech leaders how they would build trust with managers to facilitate a better work environment and leverage the relationship for career goals — and take their spot behind the proverbial sushi counter.
Sealed is a home wellness company that helps customers upgrade their insulation, HVAC and smart home tech for better living.
What is the best question to ask a new manager to get to know them?
One of my favorites is, “What’s your preferred method and frequency of updates relative to what I’m working on?” To me as a manager, this signals both flexibility to cater to my preferences and a willingness to be accountable for their work.
Paired with this, on someone’s first one-on-one with me, I always ask what their preferred management style is and how they would describe their idea of the perfect manager. I want to cater as much as I can, the manner in which I deliver feedback, how frequently I check in and how much detail I provide in my feedback, to their preferences.
Whether or not we land in a place that’s more about my preferences or theirs, the initial thinking and mutual consideration are very much appreciated.
Proactiveness is key.”
What’s one action a direct report can take to build trust with a new manager?
When building trust, it’s important to keep in mind what your new manager’s objectives are. Hopefully, they revolve around your career development — providing personal support for you, building a team culture, hiring other great people and the like, alongside more performance-oriented objectives.
Regarding the latter, managers are ultimately responsible for their team’s delivery of results. Knowing this, a direct report can quickly build trust by doing a number of things that reassures the manager that they’re reliable with results. Examples in our sales development team could include actions like bringing specific calls, emails or moments that you care about to our one-on-one for us to review together.
This not only saves the manager the time of looking for teaching moments while they are reviewing your work, but also allows them to spend your time together better focusing on providing feedback. By bringing the topic yourself, you are helping your manager identify where you most would like help and putting them in a great position to be able to deliver immediately relevant and actionable feedback.
When stressful situations or conflicts at work arise, how should a direct report communicate with their manager to maintain that foundation of trust and resolve issues quickly?
In sales especially, stressful situations or conflicts are guaranteed to arise. As a manager, one of my main responsibilities is to make sure that my team is supported in these situations and has the best guidance they can to navigate to the best possible outcome.
Proactiveness is key. If it’s a conflict that may reach your manager — and usually even if it won’t — it’s better if you let your manager know about it first whenever possible. Something as simple as: “Heads up, I just had a tense conversation with so-and-so. Here’s what happened and here’s my thinking on what I’m going to do next to reconcile things. Do you have any advice that would be helpful for me to consider?”
By reaching out proactively, you’re cluing your manager in so they won’t be alarmed if and when they hear it elsewhere. You’ve also demonstrated that you’re open to an outside perspective and unafraid of making mistakes nor talking about them. As an added bonus, this signals that you care about improvement, which is a very helpful indicator in how your manager helps you grow.
NYSHEX offers two-way committed contracts for cargo shipments to unite carriers and shippers in the global supply chain.
What is the best question to ask a new manager to get to know them?
In a world where so many people have joined new companies and begun new professional relationships, it’s important to take the time to really get to know your new boss and for them to get to know you. It can start with simply having a coffee, in-person or virtually. “What are your interests outside of work?” or “What are you passionate about?” are great ways to start getting to know each other. You will have a lot to discuss in your new working role, but make sure to spend the time to get to know the person.
What’s one action a direct report can take to build trust with a new manager?
I think asking your new manager for their expectations of you in the role is a really important early discussion to have. Allowing your new boss to articulate the history of the role, how it fits into the overall strategy of your team and the business and how they expect you to contribute helps show that you’re interested in learning quickly. I also think discussing topics like giving and receiving feedback helps get you on the same page quickly. Lastly, set up recurring time in your first couple of weeks for short pulse checks. These check-ins will allow you to build rapport and ask questions that will help you get up to speed even faster.
My former boss had a saying that still stays with me years later: ‘Don’t sit on a tack.’”
When stressful situations or conflicts at work arise, how should a direct report communicate with their manager to maintain that foundation of trust and resolve issues quickly?
First, speak up. My former boss had a saying that still stays with me years later. “Don’t sit on a tack,” meaning don’t stew in an uncomfortable situation where you’re upset, angry or stressed without communicating.
Go to your manager with the situation and explain what the dynamics and where the issues are as you see them. Ideally, I always love to see that someone has taken a few moments to understand the situation and to have suggested solutions to address the problem. Sometimes that is hard to do, especially when you’re new to a team or role. Find time to communicate the topic ahead of your next one-on-one to give your boss time to think through the scenario; if it’s urgent, set up time to discuss it on your own.
