Controlling your own priorities

• Your boss has a different view of what is important in your role.
• You have made your best case for other priorities.
• Would you reach such a standoff with an external customer?
• Who is your most important internal customer if not your boss?
• How would you adjust your stance to satisfy an external customer?
• How can you apply this approach to the issue with your boss?
• How can you compromise in a way that you win something as well?
• How do you ensure you understand your customer's needs?
• How can you obtain a better understanding of your boss's position?
• What else can you do to help your boss succeed?
• What can your boss do for you in exchange for your support?
• Are you willing to give on this one to gain something else?
• Can you adjust some of your other priorities so you can do what you want as well as attend to your boss's priorities?
• Do you see your broader objective as one of balancing doing whatever your customers want against also leading them?
• How can you lead your boss on other issues while compromising on this one?
• In short, what bargaining power does this conflict give you?
• And how can you use it to your advantage?
• What does that tell you about how to manage your boss in future?