How to Appease Your Boss-God

Editor's note: Welcome to our new weekly column on business etiquette. If you have a pressing question for Miss Conduct, please send her an email.

In recent articles, Miss Conduct discussed the business etiquette of how to treat people as if they were your bosses, then gave an overview of how to treat your real bosses as if they were gods.

So now it's time to look at business etiquette where the rubber meets the road -- or where the sacrifice hits the altar, in this case.

How do you get your boss to be aligned with your goals, for instance? Indeed, how do you get your boss to do anything?

Like a supplicant before an angry god, when you want something from your boss, you have to make him want it, too. You need to think like a master waiter who keeps careful note of his customers' favorite wines and dishes. When it's time to recommend a great meal for a very special customer on a significant occasion -- or a supplicant choosing the very tastiest goat to sacrifice to the gods -- it's important to set the table for your guest's comfort, choose the menu to appeal his tastes, then give your steak some sizzle.

Set the Scene

If you want your boss to want what you want, choose the best time of day and the best locale to get his undivided attention.

If you're a lowly researcher and the boss is a distant vision in the corner office (a.k.a. Mount Olympus), try to snag a few moments when he's relaxed. Even if you have to wait next to the Up button from noon to 1 p.m. in order to snag a few moments alone in the elevator coming back from lunch, it's worth the investment. If you're in a position to ask him out to lunch yourself, reserve a table somewhere he will appreciate.