Impressing your bosses is essential if you have ambitions of also securing a leadership position in the future. Whether it’s your immediate supervisor or someone higher up in the management, your managers can have a huge impact on the direction that your professional career takes. Among all of your work colleagues, they are also the ones that have the greatest potential to make your life at work a fulfilling endeavor.

This is why building a good relationship with your boss is so important. In doing so, you’ll gain a better understanding about your supervisor’s expectations, and you’ll be able to use that knowledge to do your job well while consistently demonstrating your willingness to work hard for the success of your organization.

Before you can forge a strong professional bond with your boss, however, you need to be able to get his or her attention first. To help you achieve this goal, we are providing you with a few tips that you can keep in mind.

Come to work prepared and do excellent work

This may seem self-explanatory, but some people do need the reminder. Remember that there’s no better way to demonstrate your professionalism than by showing up for work prepared and by doing everything you can to make sure that you deliver.

Make certain that you have all the documents and information you need during meetings, and stay on top of your game every day by maintaining your focus and directing your full attention to the tasks at hand. Nothing can destroy your image more than substandard performance, so do everything you can to avoid this mistake.

Be assertive

In a professional environment, learning how to be assertive is one of the most important skills that you can develop. When you are assertive, you have the ability to stand up for yourself and you can communicate directly and honestly with your colleagues. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you have to be aggressive, since assertiveness also means having that healthy confidence while respecting the thoughts and desires of other people.

When you are able to communicate your ideas, wants, and needs without resorting to rudeness or causing unnecessary distress, you are demonstrating your maturity and your great interpersonal skills. Such qualities are necessary prerequisites for anyone who wants to be a leader someday.

If you feel that that your behavior at work leans more towards being passive or being aggressive, consider getting help from professional assertiveness communication training coaches to correct your style. Whether you are working in an office, in an industrial facility, or as a freelance creative, you’re sure to benefit from such expert training sessions.

Pivot your priorities around those of your boss

If you’re working for an organization, you should be willing to hinge your own priorities to the priorities of your boss and of your organization. It is important that you and your superiors are aligned because this is how team efforts succeed, essentially. Understand the long-term vision of your boss and of your company so that your day-to-day activities will become in sync with this vision.

Take the initiative to do projects that bring added value to your organization

While you need to work within the scope of your supervisor’s vision for your team, you can also volunteer to take on projects that will help improve processes in your place of work, allow your company to save resources, or provide solutions to existing problems. Think about how you can appropriately make a contribution and then offer your suggestions.

When it comes to solving existing problems, many people don’t realize how much managers greatly appreciate employees who do their part to try to address the challenging situations, and by contrast, how much they hate the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers who always complain instead of looking for ways to make things better.

When you’re trying to impress your boss, consider it to be much more than trying to gain some brownie points. By maintaining professionalism and putting extra effort into your work every day, you can develop into a truly valuable part of your organization.