Managing up, in a nutshell
Executive Coach Marion Gamel, with her 20+ years’ experience in corporate settings – including working for Google, Eventbrite and Betsson Group – explores how mid-management executives often struggle to manage up, and offers actionable tips on how to help employees stand out.
When I coach mid-management executives, the topic of managing-up often comes up. Leaders are so busy supporting their team and collaborating with their peers to deal with projects at hand and remove obstacles, that they often have very little time left to manage up. We all know what’s at stake: managing up will secure their continuous growth and ultimately, secure their promotion to a bigger role.
So, what is managing up?
Managing up refers to the process of proactively building a strong working relationship with your manager by understanding their goals, preferences and expectations, and aligning your actions to support them. It involves anticipating their needs, providing solutions rather than problems, offering insights or information that help them succeed, and communicating effectively. By doing so, employees can not only improve their own work performance but also contribute to their boss’ success, ultimately positioning themselves as valuable team members and potential candidates for promotion or leadership roles.
Let’s try to make this concise and actionable. Here are a handful of concepts to keep in mind when feeling the need to manage up. In my corporate experience pre-coaching, at major global organisations such as Google and Eventbrite, as well as my experience as Chief Marketing Officer of a publicly listed global group, I have distilled managing up between an employee and their boss.
Make your boss look good
Any activity that will make your direct line manager ‘look good’ will automatically earn you the ‘indispensable’ tag in their eyes. It could be that thanks to your efforts, a project is delivered early or way above expectations. It could be a piece of content you bring to your boss that empowers them to have a new idea or come up with a new strategy that stands out. It could be that you yourself bring innovative ideas to the table that empowers your boss and the entire team to be perceived as agile, innovative and ambitious.
“THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT EMPLOYEES WHO CONTINUOUSLY HELP THEIR MANAGER LOOK GOOD BY BRINGING SOMETHING MORE OR ELIMINATING A HURDLE, ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE CONSIDERED AS A POTENTIAL SUCCESSOR.”
SUPPORT YOUR BOSS
Don’t give your work to your boss: one of the main differences between being a sole contributor, when you start working, and becoming a manager, is to know how to contain, own and resolve issues. Asking your boss for advice or for support to make a decision is great collaboration as you tap into their experience and know-how, but bringing an issue to your boss without any thought given to your available options feels lazy. At the very least, when requiring help from your boss, be clear about what you’re planning on doing and define precisely where you need help and where you don’t. It should never feel like you’re just passing on a sick baby!
Tip: Once a week, when you’re thinking about what needs doing, or what you have achieved, ask yourself: “What could make my boss look good?” or “What’s the little extra that will make my boss stand out?”
Take on some of their tasks: On the other hand of the spectrum, your aim should be to occasionally offer your help and propose to take on some of your boss’ tasks to lighten their load and train yourself to become a leader.
“ONE OF THE BEST GROOMING TO BECOME YOUR BOSS’ SUCCESSOR IS TO OFFER TO COMPILE AND DRAFT RECURRENT REPORTS FOR THEM.”
Bring food for thought
When you’re an executive, you are solving issues, putting people in touch, giving clarity, gathering information in order to come up with an analysis of the situation and a strategy, all day long. This is intense. What a breath of fresh air when one of your team members, instead of bringing up an issue, brings you food for thought. It could be an interesting case study which could be applied to a project your boss is working on. It could be a different approach highlighted in an article about a company somehow comparable to yours. It could be a game-changing concept mentioned in an interview. It could be a new trend that could potentially impact your business or your customers. It could also be an analysis you’ve executed that highlights a pattern or a virtuous/vicious circle.
Discuss the WHY, not just the WHAT and the HOW
Many one-on-one meetings are very focused on HOW you do things, and sometimes on WHAT you’ve achieved. Both could be summarised in a document that lists your tasks and shows them as amber, green or red. This is not necessarily the best way to use your one-on-one time with your boss.
The WHY is what matters. Your boss, due to their seniority, has access to more information, be it hard data or opinions and decisions. This is the unique content you can discuss with your boss: WHY has the company decided to close? WHY is there more of a focus on X this year compared to last year? WHY have we decided not to diversify further our offering?
Answers to these questions will improve your understanding of the business, help you position your work in the matrix, clarify priorities, and could very well help your boss think further, thanks to your careful questioning.
Tip: Prepare for one-on-one meetings like they’re precious. If possible, send a suggested agenda the day before. Show that it’s not just a casual catch-up in your eyes.
Spread the good news
In a company, gossip and rumours run wild. One of the best things you can do to manage up is to spread good news about your boss. Simple! Sure, your boss probably has some weaknesses, but everyone’s already gossiping about them. Focus on what’s positive and spread the word.
Sources are always shared (eventually) and you’ll inspire a lot of trust from your boss when they hear about the positive information you’ve been sharing about them. When your boss truly trusts you, you enter a blessed type of relationship!
Tip: Think about three things you authentically appreciate about your boss:
One about how they manage the team (feedback, recognition, transparency)
One about business thinking (acumen, analysis, strategy)
One about them as a person (humour, empathy, loyalty)
I hope this summary of what managing-up can concretely look like, is helpful. Although created with mid-management in mind, I suspect these tips can act as a helpful reminder, even for the C-suite, when your boss is the CEO!
Got a question for Marion?
📧 marion.gamel@gmail.com