Dealing with Executives
Dealing with the General Manager
By Jim Goding
The most important thing to remember in dealing with higher executives of any kind is that they hate to waste their time and energy.
This means that you really don’t want to do things twice. If you don’t follow the pointers below, your work will almost always have to be redone, with considerable irritation to the executives.
1. Make sure you have your facts straight. Verify information from sources not within your control.
2. Put it in writing. Verbal statements and requests get lost and can easily be misunderstood.
3. Never present conclusions or opinions as fact.
4. Include all pertinent facts, even if they do not support your conclusions. Information not included, and noticed by an executive, reduces your credibility.
5. Do not include information in any presentation that has nothing to do with the presentation. “Padding” wastes an executive’s time, as he has to try to figure out what the inapplicable information has to do with the conclusions and proposals.
6. Attempt to account for all information. If there is data that is not accounted for, point out this fact.
7. Don’t take it personally if your conclusions or proposals are not accepted. It is very possible that the executive has information or has to deal with things that you don’t know about.
8. Leave the legal-eagle angles to the specialists. Simply present your facts and conclusions, and proposals if applicable.
9. Remember that proposals to spend money must result in increased ability to either create revenue or save the company money. Legal requirements should be bolstered by ability to create revenue.
10. Never ask for the minimum required.
When all is said and done, the most important thing in dealing with high execs is that they must be able to trust you and take you at your word. This means that no falsehood of any kind should ever be used in your dealing with any high exec.
