How to keep your boss happy -- and get ahead

13. Never leave the boss's table until you are sure she is finished ordering. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

14. Be flexible. If your boss decides to change his order, that's perfectly fine with you. So it's not: "Are you crazy? I just finished calling all of our vendors to tell them the deal is off. You can't change your mind now!" The correct answer is: "No problem, I'll get right on that." If the Big Cheese wants butter -- even if it's not in your job description to fetch it -- fetch it. It won't kill you to make the copies, keep a visitor busy, or man the switchboard for a morning.

15. Let the boss know what's cooking. Generally speaking, you want to let the boss know what you are up to, rather than having him wonder -- especially when he's out of town. Pithy, slightly vague e-mails are great for this, as in: "I contacted Mr. Johnston, and he's happy to file the claim for us." Plus, updates send a subliminal message to the Big Cheese: "I'm on it. Stuff is getting done, and I'm working for you, O chief fondue."

16. Don't deliver bad news without simultaneously presenting a buffet of palatable solutions. "Unfortunately, the new back-end system won't be up and running until Tuesday. But we will be able to run the site on the old servers through the weekend, or we can use the Servers R Us cohosting serice instead. Which would you prefer?"

17. Drop inside information to your boss as subtly as a napkin. So it's "I heard from Joe in accounting that the CEO is thinking of clamping down on business-class travel," not "Well, I know what the CEO wants and no one can fly first class, not even youuuu!"

18. Accept praise gracefully. If the Big Cheese tells you how much he enjoyed what you dished up, don't say, "Oh, it was nothing," or "It could have been better." If he said it was good, it was good -- validate his opinion, don't contradict it. Say: "Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

19. Don't hover. You cannot stand over the boss while he's digesting. After you hand him a memo to review, don't be lurking around saying: "Do you like it? Huh? What do you think?" Just because he never says he likes it doesn't mean he doesn't think it's dee-lish.

20. Do NOT touch the boss. Jo once thought she was doing her boss a favour by straightening his tie before he went to a meeting. He slapped her hand and said, "Please don't ever touch me."

21. No matter how R-U-D-E, gruff, picky, or indecisive the boss may be, you are the professional waiter. Stand neutral and nonreactive, patiently waiting to serve.

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Excerpted from The Big Sister's Guide to the World of Work: The Inside Rules Every Working Girl Must Know by Marcelle DiFalco and Jocelyn Greenky Herz. Copyright 2005 by Marcelle DiFalco and Jocelyn Greenky Herz. Excerpted with permission from Fireside Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.