If you aren’t working on your boss’s top three priorities, you are not working on the agenda

Here is a checklist to ask yourself when you feel stuck.

First check if you are really working on stuff that matters.

You are working on stuff that matters, when

- People have time for you, calendars open up, and meetings get scheduled quickly.
- Resources become available. Funds typically flow to the most important work.
- Work gets easier. As support for the work increases, progress comes faster and more efficiently.
- There’s more pressure. Because the work matters, expect to feel more weight on your shoulders and greater pressure to perform.
- There’s more visibility. When your sights are set on what’s important, all eyes are on you.


And when are you off the agenda?

- No time. Meetings are hard to schedule. You hurry up and then wait for peoples time. One-on-ones with your boss are often canceled.
- No response. You send emails but don’t receive replies.
- No feedback. When you ask people to review your documents, you get little/no feedback or receive a cursory “Looks good.”
- Stalls and delays. Initiatives get stalled and then scrapped. Or progress is slow; needs change before the work is complete.
- Not on the boss’s short list. Your boss isn’t asking you about your work.


PS: Recommended book reading - "Impact players" - Liz Wiseman.