While many workplace relationships contribute to career success, successful corporate executives will tell you that they never took their boss for granted and actively managed up to cultivate productive and positive relationships with their seniors.
Managing up is not about blind following or ingratiating yourself. It is also not about tolerating bosses who behave disrespectfully or inappropriately. It’s about consciously developing good and trusting relationships with the people who can influence your career trajectory. When the relationship works well, you both enjoy effective two-way communication, clear expectations, good alignment, mutual trust, respect, and camaraderie. Naturally, your organisation also benefits from the harmonious and productive relationship. Managing up can also help you find common ground with a difficult manager or a manager who doesn’t work or think the way you do; it can result in a manager who’s willing to advocate for you when the need arises.
The purpose of this article is to remind you of these key principles to manage up effectively:
- It is up to you to intentionally manage your relationship with your boss and help them to be a more effective manager and a better boss to you. If there are hiccups or breakdowns in the relationship, it is in your interest to act promptly to have those issues addressed in a way that works for both of you.
- The boss is only one-half of the relationship. You are the other half — the half you have more control over. Developing an effective working relationship requires self-awareness and adjustment — of your own needs, strengths and weaknesses, personal style, how you work with others, and what you may be resisting.
- Managing up is a skill you can learn over time. Sitting back and complaining does not help. By honing your “managing up” skills and improving your rapport with your boss, you’re investing in a happier, more fulfilling workplace.
Strategies for managing up
Managing up is often situational; however, from navigating my career, I’ve learned that one can manage up effectively and strengthen your partnership with your manager by doing well in four vital areas.
1. Understand your boss’s style and preferences
This will enable you to adapt your approach and communication with them responsively. Consider four ways to do this:
Ask what their biggest priorities and concerns are
Sometimes, keeping your ears close to the ground (networking, not gossiping) will help you understand the challenges that your boss is facing in the organisation. If you know what achievements would make your boss a success in the eyes of their own boss and senior management, support them in that.
Understand your boss’s communication preferences
Some bosses are very hands-on, others like to manage by exception (ie, identify issues that deviate from the norm and manage those). Does your boss prefer grabbing a coffee together rather than meeting formally? WhatsApp, Slack, or detailed email updates? Chit-chat first or cut straight to business? Entire history or just highlights?
Adapt to and adjust for their communication style
This takes effort, but don’t you go this extra mile for a valued client? Then why not for your boss?
Owing to cultural upbringing, some bosses may communicate indirectly. If your boss’s style is indirect, you may miss the signal that they want you to act. For example, if your boss says: “I really have to get this report done, but I don’t have much time,” they actually mean: “I am asking you to do it for me.”
If you don’t get it right away, they would have to step out of their comfort zone to be more direct, leading to a dissonance that is not uncommon in cross-cultural settings.
In my case, my accountant training made me a details-oriented person, which sometimes met with a rebuff from some of my nonfinance bosses, until I learned to adapt.
In a perfectly balanced and ideal world, we may wish that our managers would align their preferences and workstyle to ours. However, unless the particular workstyle of the manager is outright hostile, discriminatory, illegal, or against stated company policy (handling those scenarios is not covered in this article), it is in your interest to recognise they have different perspectives, styles, experiences, and ways of relating and go ahead to proactively adapt your style. Of course, good bosses also adapt over time.
Reframe and redirect when their instructions are not clear
If you feel like your manager is not being clear with their instructions or requests, respond with, “So, if I understand correctly, you’re asking me to do …,” and fill in the blank with your perspective. Your manager has an opportunity to confirm or correct your understanding, and you get the needed clarity.
Similarly, if you’re feeling unsure midway through a project, arranging check-ins with your manager will ensure you don’t get too far off track.
2. Make your boss’s job easier by building trust
This is done by building your competence, reliability, and trust quotients in the following five ways:
Keep your promises and exhibit strong ownership of your work
Your boss needs to trust you to get your job done, so that they aren’t left in the lurch. When you accept an assignment, follow through and deliver by the date and time you promised. Leverage your boss if you need to for crossing organisational hurdles. At the same time, it is critical to anticipate difficulties. If you think you cannot deliver as promised, let your boss know in good time and help to manage the fallout. Even though this might involve showing vulnerability, I have found it effective in bumping up the trust quotient.
Bosses seldom like surprises, even pleasant ones
Surprises make them look like they are not in control. Many times, we believe it’s best to conceal problems until we have solved them, but the knowledge that you could have put your team at risk can cost your boss’s trust. Even as you set in motion a firefighting plan, loop the boss in early.
Likewise, when bad news is inevitable — such as an unhappy customer all set to escalate a complaint — brief your boss before that call comes in, both on the issue and how you are fixing it.
When you see your boss in need, that is the best time to up your trust quotient
A turning point in my career came when my first boss at Disney sought to move a sales function for the Southeast Asia territory from Hong Kong to his own team in Singapore but did not have the headcount to manage it. I asked him if I could try my hand at it, over and above my existing role. Braving a steep learning curve and long hours, I “auditioned” by cracking open the Indonesian market for Disney Channel. That gave him great confidence in me, even as he met his own objective of bringing the sales function directly under him.
Tout your achievements tactfully
Do not seek to overshadow the boss. The best way is to frame successes as “wins for the team” and to compliment your boss for their role in it.
Be mindful to avoid certain behaviours
These include habitual bargaining on every matter, failing to check in or update, joining in “loose talk” even as a joke, or stealing the boss’s thunder in the desire to build your own image as you seek to raise visibility for yourself among senior leadership.
Trust is not gained overnight. It develops from being true, honest, vulnerable, and having a track record of delivering on time what you promised.
3. Be a likeable colleague to work with
Show flexibility and willingness to take on the difficult projects. Beyond competence, performance, and all that jazz, we all like to work with congenial folk. Your boss is no different. Follow these tips to achieve it:
Embrace the mission to make your boss successful
Remember the scene from the film The Devil Wears Prada, where Miranda Priestly’s assistant stealthily walks alongside her at a party and whispers into her ear who each guest is, so it’ll seem as if she remembers everyone? That should be you.
This does not mean being a ‘yes’ person
Managing up also means speaking up when you need to be the truthteller, but do it genuinely, respectfully, and confidentially (ideally one-on-one).
Advise, then cooperate
Don’t be shy to offer your point of view — I remember the many corner office debates I had with my bosses. But once the decision was taken (per my recommendation or not), I’d put myself solidly behind it and wholeheartedly implement it.
Show genuine appreciation for their support and feedback
This is important even where the feedback is negative. It is not to be confused with flattery, but it will make your boss feel validated.
Seek out common interests
These can include sports, music, movies, etc., in order to connect beyond work topics, spend time together, and forge a bond.
4. Proactively enable your boss to help your own and your team’s performance
A cardinal rule when managing up is to take more off your boss’s plate than you add to it.
Explain how you’re best ‘managed’
Every boss has their own default management style; it’s up to you to gently guide your boss with specifics on how they can help you do your best work. This requires self-awareness first and then the courage to speak up.
Make their work easier, not harder
When you have to escalate a problem, approach your boss with a coherent problem statement, some homework on causes, and your suggestions for resolution.
Anticipate your boss’s needs and proactively support them
This develops as you get to know your boss. Spotted some real-time industry news that your boss may not have picked up? Message it to them ahead of their upcoming meeting with their boss or the industry roundtable — they then appear to be on top of their game and recognise you as a key factor.
Get clarity on your KPIs and rewards
Ask your boss (1) what their expectations of you and your team are; (2) how will you be measured on those; and (3) if you exceed those targets, what does that mean for you? It is not a good idea to accept fuzzy feedback — ask clarifying questions to be able to take concrete action.
Manage your boss’s communications about you and your team
Looking for a promotion? Or budget, headcount, or support for an initiative? Your ability to secure it often depends on how senior management perceives you and your department. Don’t leave this important issue only in your boss’s hands. Consider what information senior management looks at, and equip your boss with the talking points, blurbs, facts, and figures to properly represent you and your team. Offer to write reports, prepare slides, or even assist your boss in presentations. Seek opportunities to factually highlight how you are contributing to the team’s success.
How well are you managing up currently?
Rate yourself on how well you manage up, using the scale shown in the chart “Levels of Managing Up,” below. I hope implementing the four ways discussed in this article will help you to improve your scores to level 4 or higher, leading to more success and fulfilment in your career.
Of course, when your relationship with your boss seems beyond repair and you’ve done everything in your power to improve it, consider looking for a new job — or at least a new manager. Anyway, it’s always a good idea to identify and cultivate other potential sponsors in the organisation beyond and in addition to your boss.
As you finish reading this article, I’d encourage you to answer the following questions: What’s one challenge you confront in your relationship with your boss? What’s one strategy that you have learned that you might use to address it?
Raju Venkataraman, FCMA, CGMA, is a credentialed leadership and career coach (PCC) and corporate trainer based in Singapore, serving clients worldwide. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Oliver Rowe at Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com.
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