Dear Ana, In your last letter, you told me that your boss Stephanie was probably looking for a new job and you didn’t know how to tell her that you wanted to take her position if she left. Well, I’d like to tell you that there is no polite way to talk about this situation with your boss. After all, you are not one-hundred-percent sure that she is actually job-hunting. Even if you know for sure that she is, you can’t, because it’s not your business. Still, there are a couple of things that you can do to put yourself in a good position in case your boss does ride out of Dodge in the near future. First, you can have a general conversation with her about your career plans. Say something like, “You’ve always been supportive of me, Stephanie, and I’d love you to give me some advice on my professional development.” This will let your boss know that you’re ready for a new challenge. Ask her to give you feedback about how she thinks you can improve as a future leader. Second, ask for your manager’s approval (同意) to talk with the training department about any program the company offers. There may or may not be any training, but making the request will still communicate your desire to get into a people-management role. Third, you could say to your boss, “If there is anything you need my help with, I’d love it if you let me know. I am very interested in supporting you with anything you want to hand off.” Taking those three steps will make it clear to Stephanie that you’re ready to be her No. 2. Best regards, Liz 小题1:The underlined part “ride out of Dodge” in the first paragraph probably means “______”.
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