Sometimes I hear people say that they don’t understand why their boss wants to review their plan with them. Why their boss insists on check-in meetings to make sure everything is going okay.

I’m a [fill in the blank] leader, they say, it’s my job to manage this stuff. Why are they checking up on me?

I don’t know why they’re checking up on you. Maybe it’s you; maybe it’s them.

Maybe they’re just doing their job: ensuring that they communicated the objective effectively; providing an objective outside perspective that could help you course correct before it’s too late; seeing if you need their help overcoming blockers through their influence or money or power. Some crazy thing like that. Who knows…

But here’s the thing: you’re not getting out of this, so quit fighting city hall.

Reframe.

Treat this like an opportunity for you to demonstrate your team’s value.

Here’s three things you could do to demonstrate value at your check-in meetings:

• Present data that shows that you’re staying on-time and on-budget (or how you plan to get back on time or on budget).
• Share stories about how your team is working cross-functionally, the conversations you’ve had with partners in other areas or with customers, how you’re integrating their input into your product or plan.
• Describe a thorny problem that the team has faced and what the team did to overcome it – or recognize a particular member of the team for applying new skills.

Here’s one for extra credit:

• Think about something your boss might provide input on, and invite their input so they feel included.

When my fiancé and I were planning our wedding, his parents often called to tell us that they felt left out because they couldn’t picture the wedding in their head.

“Sure, what do you want to know?” We’d ask.

“Well… Flowers! We don’t know what you’re doing about flowers,” they’d answer, taken aback and grasping for something to ask about.

Luckily, we had flowers on our list of things we anticipated they’d care about.

“We thought we wouldn’t do flowers,” we’d declare. And wait.

“No flowers! You can’t have a wedding without flowers!”

We’d come up with a few excuses: they’re so expensive, the venue was all about the view and no one would even notice the flowers, my allergies were bothering me…

We’d go back and forth, let them get it out of their system, and finally concede to the fallback position that we had already planned: boutonnieres and corsages for the family and wedding party. They’d hang up, flush with their victory and relieved that we had come to our senses. And we’d go back to planning the wedding that we wanted. Until the next time they’d call and ask about the music… or the ceremony… or whatever…

Knowing what your boss is going to care about and inviting their input gives them a chance to weigh in, to feel like they’re doing their job. And it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you can have a conversation where you don’t have all the answers, where you aren’t performing what a perfect, all-knowing employee you are.

A conversation where you are speaking as equals, partners in problem-solving, colleagues instead of boss and employee.

Where they see you as someone who can hold their own with a senior executive.

And who knows, they may actually provide useful input.

So the next time your boss says they want to see your cards, don’t fight it.

Leverage it.