In the previous article, we discussed how understanding yourself as a leader is the first step in the process of managing up. We also examined the importance of understanding your manager’s career drivers and their communication style. In this article, we’ll discuss three more important considerations when managing up.
Your manager’s interaction tendencies
After working with your manager for a while, you’ll start to pick up on how they handle interpersonal interactions. These patterns can help you manage up in certain situations.
- Embracing conflict: If your manager seeks conflict, bear in mind that they may just be pushing back to test an idea’s strength; it’s not necessarily a criticism of your work. Still, you’ll want to do your homework and come prepared with your data and potential talking points based on the types of questions your manager usually asks. With these types of managers, it’s OK to stand your ground initially… but know when to choose your battles.
- Avoiding conflict: If your manager is conflict-averse, that could slow your ability to drive change in your organization. Take note of how they respond to pushback from you or from others. Watch whether they address concerns with colleagues or other direct reports or whether they shy away from a bit of “healthy tension.” If they are unlikely to address problems, you may need to take action yourself (within the scope of your role or with your manager’s permission), or find tactful ways of addressing concerns in group settings.
- Candor: What is your manager’s threshold for direct communication? Some managers seek blunt feedback, while others might take offense. Establishing trust and credibility lays the groundwork for candid communication, but practicing it requires being in tune with your manager’s tendencies. There’s a right time and place for candid feedback, which is almost always best shared privately and when emotions are calm. You may want to ask permission before sharing candid comments (“Can I be really direct with you?”). Keep your feedback focused on shared goals, and use what you know about their motivators and stressors to gauge which topics may be more sensitive and require more of a filter.
- Decision making: It’s common for managers to approach decisions through a certain lens, at least initially. For example: data-driven, goal-driven, org-centric, customer-centric, research-driven, product-centric, or investor-centric. There’s no right or wrong lens to use, but ideally, leaders examine decisions from a number of perspectives. Understanding their primary lens will give you clues as to how they might engage with others, what they prioritize, and how you need to communicate. If they rely too heavily on one lens, you may need to prompt them with questions examining things from a few different angles.
- Processing time: Individuals process information differently. Some managers process information and make decisions quickly, and you’ll need to come prepared with all of the details and next steps. Others may prefer to process and ruminate a bit longer, so you may need to break your decisions into multiple discussions. Bear in mind that pushing your manager to move faster or slower than they want may cause frustration.
Gaps in your manager’s approach or knowledge
Effectively managing up often entails adjusting your approach to account for your manager’s career drivers, communication style, and interaction tendencies. While you’re not taking on your manager’s responsibilities, you may need to use your strengths to balance out your manager’s gaps, which can help you to both succeed. Some of those gaps could include:
- If they are good at decisions but bad at advancing things, you might need to push them to identify action items and break out next steps for them.
- If they struggle with making decisions, you may need to help them to create clarity on expectations and outcomes to define what success looks like.
- If they tend to make “everything a priority,” you may need to direct them back to previously stated priorities and time/resource constraints and urge them to make tradeoff decisions.
- If you’re reporting to someone outside your functional area (e.g., Marketing reporting to a sales-oriented CRO), they may have functional or technical knowledge gaps. You may need to do some translating for them or advocate for yourself differently, since they may lack the functional context.
- Surprisingly, only 9% of employees indicate that their manager has provided clear guidance and support to advance their career, according to a recent Ed-tech Leadership Collective survey. If your manager falls into this category, you may need to advocate for yourself and be very clear about what you need, such as seeking clarity on how you're evaluated and what it takes to advance, asking for development and stretch opportunities, securing the necessary resources to accomplish your work, or creating visibility for your team’s accomplishments.
Reflecting on your own tendencies
After asking all of these questions about your manager’s tendencies, go back and reflect on how you show up when encountering your manager’s tendencies, preferences, and gaps. Consider how your strengths and weaknesses overlap with your manager’s, or where your strengths might complement their weaknesses.
Conclusion
Effectively managing up is all about how you use your strengths and your own self-awareness to create a dynamic that helps you and your manager be successful. Approaching your work in a way that fosters mutual success builds the credibility you need to advocate for your work, raise important questions, and grow in your career.
Your relationship with your manager is a working partnership between two people, each with strengths, habits, and pressures of their own. This complex dynamic makes “managing up” an essential part of your role. The more clearly you understand how your manager operates, the more effectively you can bring ideas forward, raise concerns, and get what you need to do your best work.