why to make your manager
look good

Invaluable career advice: it's not the money or the work that makes the big difference on the job.

By Jim Longuski

Whether you manage people or you're one of the employees managed, you'll probably want to move up in the organization or in your chosen field of science or engineering. How can you ensure success in your career path? As a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee, I've learned some important principles to guide the way.

But before we begin, a simple pop quiz: Which is the most important factor in your job?

A. Your salary.
B. Your work.
C. Your boss.

The correct answer is C, your boss. Why? Because if your boss is incompetent—that is, if he or she lacks vision, drive, or integrity—then it won't matter how interesting the work is or how much you're getting paid. A lot is riding on the boss you choose. Your career and your future depend on this decision. And, as we'll see, not all bosses are worthy of your loyalty.

When you're considering jobs, seek an enlightened manager. Enlightened managers make sure they hire the right person for the right job. Enlightened managers are matchmakers. They match not only your skills, but your desires, hopes, and dreams, with the position you find most fulfilling.

Enlightened managers know that if the match is not good, they'll either be forced to hire a new person in the next six months or will have to contend with an unhappy, unenthusiastic, noncreative employee for perhaps years to come. They know that engineers and scientists have dreams, and they want to harness those dreams for the good of the company, the employee, and themselves. Enlightened managers recognize themselves in their potential employees.

Reading The Signs

Enlightened managers know more about you and your ability to do the work than you do. They've been in the business of hiring successful employees and they know how to read the signs; they not only know where you belong, but where you'll be happy. They accurately assess your potential and your desires in the same way a good real estate agent matches the needs and buying potential of the would-be homeowner.

The good real estate agent knows what you can afford because the bank has told him or her what you can pay. You can trust that assessment. In the same way, you can trust the assessment of enlightened managers. Don't be afraid if the job they've described to you sounds formidable, if you don't know how to solve the problem, or even what the problem is.

Enlightened managers have carefully studied your résumé, transcripts, and reports. They've contacted your references. They know your school and your professors. They have a challenging, stimulating job for you where you can flourish.

Career taking off? Consider the person you'll work for, before you take the offer.

Don't think about taking a lesser job, an easier job, a job you know how to do before you start. That job will become very boring to you in the first year and intolerable after that.

Enlightened managers know you'll need an interesting, difficult task: something you can grow into, something the company needs solved. Be confident in your abilities. You have what it takes. You have your degree and a solid foundation in your field. You have learned much.

What you must realize is that there is no end to learning. The company expects you to learn many new things. Engineers and scientists are by nature life-long learners. Only by learning new things can you expect to accomplish something. Only by rising to the challenges can you feel pride in achievement.

Enlightened managers know this. They're mentors. You already know that learning is hard work, but it's also the only road to success in engineering and science. When your enlightened manager offers you a difficult, challenging job, you should be grateful. Accept his offer and count your blessings.

The Incompetent Boss: Be Wary

What should you do if you find yourself working for an unenlightened manager? And how can you avoid being one yourself?

Keep in mind a fundamental rule of how hierarchies work: high-level management always takes the word of low-level managers over the word of employees.

If your boss is incompetent and he justifies your low salary raise by telling upper management that your work is somehow lacking, that assessment is taken as gospel; your work is lacking. Your manager feels sorry for you, so he keeps you on the job in spite of your "lackluster" performance, and your objections to his boss will be taken with a grain of salt as the protestations of a disgruntled, lackluster employee.

Let's consider an example.

A certain young man with excellent grades from a top-flight aerospace engineering school joined the navigation section of an important government laboratory. He was excited about the work and very happy with his starting salary. His first boss, a stocky, handsome man—who looked a lot like Orson Welles in his later years—seemed OK.

The young man assumed his boss was like one of his professors. The boss had good credentials and his publications had been referenced in important books on trajectory optimization. The young man looked up to his boss for guidance in his career at the laboratory. He assumed his boss cared as much about his employees' careers and advancement as they did.

The young man wanted to learn everything he could about how to navigate spacecraft among the planets. "I want to study the problem, derive the equations, and check the lab's simulator for accuracy," he told his boss.

The boss shook his head.

"I don't want you to reinvent the wheel here, boy," he said. "Look, I'll tell you what to do. You put these numbers into the NAV simulator and bring the output back to me—and I'll tell you what it all means."

Disappointed, but still hopeful, the young man did as he was told.
"Maybe later," he told himself.

But even after a year, his manager would never allow him to investigate or study the problem of space navigation in the way he had learned at school. His boss never let him spend time understanding the underlying issues.

Landing in the right spot requires a little asking around, to make sure that the manager has a character worthy of your loyalty.

After the first year there, he should have left his job, but didn't. His first mistake was to accept the job at all. But he went on to make a second, even more serious mistake; he stayed with that boss for another six years. The young man was afraid to change, afraid to appear disloyal, even after his manager demonstrated that he didn't deserve loyalty.

Each year the young man got lower and lower salary raises. Finally, he tried to find another job. Luckily, he had a very good interview at another top government laboratory. The immediate bosses liked him and passed his résumé all the way up to the vice president, who approved all new hires.

Then, the young man's dreams were dashed. The vice president did not give his approval. Why not? The young man's salary was too low.

"It's a sure sign of a problem when a candidate from a top lab has a low salary like this," the vice president said.

So now you can see why it's crucial to check out your boss before you agree to work for him. What are you looking for in a boss? A person with vision, energy, intelligence, honesty, fairness, and value for human beings. Few managers will have great strengths in all of these categories, but a severe weakness in any spells trouble.

You can first observe many of these qualities during your interview. You need to be a keen observer, but most of all, you must trust your gut instinct.

The second opportunity to investigate your prospective manager occurs when you're introduced to his immediate employees. Bring up your questions about the boss during your one-on-one interviews with the employees. Do it in private.

If the boss is bad, you'll hear about it. Bad news travels fast indeed and you don't need to dig deep to hear the juicy stories.
It will be disheartening to hear them after the exciting plant trip, the challenge of interesting work, the anticipation of an excellent salary at a prestigious laboratory. But you must hear them and make your decision accordingly. You must protect your career from the disaster that will surely follow if you accept a job with an unenlightened manager.

Make Your Good Boss Look Good

The secret to success is to find a good boss and then to make him or her look good. Why must you make your boss look good? Because, unlike at school, you're now in a cooperative venture with your manager and with all of the team members of your company. It's your company or laboratory that's in competition with others. Competing with your boss is detrimental to your organization.

Keep in mind that you're working in a hierarchy and that one of the rules of such hierarchies is that you will never be promoted above your boss. The exception is to make a lateral move to another section or company. For you to get promoted, your boss has to be promoted first. Then, if you're his right-hand man, it will be necessary for him to promote you so that he can continue to benefit from your talent, energy, and loyalty.

The principles I discuss here apply not only to rocket science, but to many fields and industries in which managers and highly trained analysts work. I hope that these principles will guide you on a successful and happy career in engineering and management.

Jim Longuski is a faculty member in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. This article is based on his book, Advice to Rocket Scientists: A Career Survival Guide for Scientists and Engineers, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

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