Convincing the Boss to Let Me Go To a Conference
When You Disagree with Your Boss
When you disagree with your boss, how do you influence him to budge? For instance, you really want to attend a conference. You think it’d be good for the business. But your boss thinks you’d be better off doing work in the office. How to convince my boss to let me go to a conference is the subject of this case study. We’ll consider 3 approaches, share which is most effective, and explain why. Then next time, instead of reading these posts, you can be off learning at your conference!
The Situation
You work with your boss, Jim, on a four-person marketing team for a small chain of retail stores.
Your department has a respectable marketing budget. But you feel it’s missing out on using social media: it does little with its Facebook account and nothing with Snapchat or Instagram.
An Appealing Conference
You want your company to send you to a “Social Media for Business” conference in Chicago next fall. There are conference fees, travel expense, and you would be out of the office for three days.
You discussed this with Jim, but he’s shown little interest. Yet, Jim was once a key player in getting your company’s website going. He also uses the internet for e-mail blasts and e-coupons to help with sales promotions.
How to Convince Your Boss
Even with his past innovations, you don’t think Jim appreciates newer online marketing vehicles. The conference registration deadline is around the corner. But you aren’t sure how to proceed, since you have no power over your boss.
Being the Q4 employee that you are, you pull out your Leadership Through People Skills book for answers. But unfortunately, there is no chapter on how do I convince my boss to let me go to a conference. What to do?
Your Choices:
No, please try again.
No, please try again.
How Do I Convince My Boss to Let Me Go to a Conference
Tell the Boss His Position is Hurting the Company
Regarding choice A, even if you compliment Jim at first, you are still gift-wrapping an accusatory message. By portraying him as an obstruction to progress, he becomes the bad guy in your scenario. The hero in this should be social media — how it can be used to improve the success of the business, which is in Jim’s interest. The more on-target the marketing is, the better your team will meet its goals. Answer C is much more likely to succeed.Find an Influencer to Help Persuade the Boss
While it may be a good idea for other influencers in your company to be onboard with a social media marketing effort, Jim probably wouldn’t take well to being pressured. And he may see this tactic as going behind his back. Q4 influencing involves direct, open communication that emphasizes benefits in order to persuade. Option B is not a good approach to get the boss to let you attend the conference.Influence Your Boss by Showing Benefits to Him and the Company
The overarching idea behind a Q4 approach is to show Jim what’s in it for him and the company to get on board with social media. Put yourself in Jim’s place. That means emphasizing benefits, benefits, benefits! Do your homework; be prepared to show how other companies in your category have benefited from a social media strategy. Since Jim seems to have doubts about this type of marketing, get facts and figures to prove your case. Choice is the best answer to the challenge of how do I get my boss to let me go to a conference.This isn’t about being trendy — it’s about connecting with customers. (Back in the day, Jim probably had to persuade someone to try e-mail marketing.) Then, get specific about how Jim and the marketing department will benefit from these additional marketing tools. Leave the benefits for you out of it, unless you want to make the point that you’ll be a better contributor to the marketing team with the knowledge you’ll gain.
A First-Person Statement could be effective too. Instead of pointing an accusatory finger at Jim for holding things up, ask for his help: “Jim, I’m really concerned about our marketing effort falling behind our competitors in this significant area. I see other companies like ours doing much more with social media ….” This can be the bridge to help Jim address the issue. If you’re both on the same side, the discussion could then turn to how to find the funds and time for you to attend the class.
More Leadership Development
Having mastered how do I convince my boss to let me go to a conference, check out our other people leadership tips.
If working with a difficult person is weighing on you, our behavioral questionnaire can relieve your stress by suggesting actionable ideas.
Having a knowledge of people leadership skills is step one. If you are ready to not only know how to lead people, but to actually do it effectively and consistently, we have a variety of leadership development resources that can help.
Finally, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter. You may even see an occasional conference that you now know how to get the ok to attend!
Featured Whitepaper
The Business Case for Resiliency
