Bonus Day 22: Ask your manager how you can help them
Most people spend their 1:1s talking about their own goals and challenges. I took the opposite approach - and it changed everything.
When Dave Chen became my manager, I started asking him: "𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂?" Not as a formality, but with genuine curiosity about his biggest challenges.
Each time, it led to bigger stretch opportunities. One day he said: “You can help me by taking over my job since I’m leaving!” This is how I got the opportunity to lead a large global developer productivity organization for Google Workspace!
𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
This flips the typical dynamic and shows you're thinking strategically about their success.
𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁: "I've been thinking about your priorities and challenges. Is there anything I could help you with or take off your plate? I'd love to find ways to support your goals."
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:
✔ Shows you understand that your success is tied to theirs
✔ Demonstrates leadership potential and service mindset
✔ Reveals stretch opportunities they might not think to offer
✔ Builds trust and deeper working relationship
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿: Managers often have projects they'd love help with but don't know how to delegate effectively. Your offer gives them permission to share real challenges.
𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗽: Be specific about what you can realistically take on and deliver excellent results.
𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁: Keep asking consistently. It takes time to build this level of trust.
The bonus? This conversation naturally leads to better understanding of business priorities, exposure to higher-level work, and positioning yourself as indispensable to your manager's success.
Make their job easier and yours might get a lot more interesting.
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✅ Want to get even better at asking? I still have a limited number of seats left in the July 25 cohort of my course. Last cohort of this year! https://maven.com/chaitali-narla/outstanding-tech-career