Four Steps to ‘Managing Up’ that Will Make Your Job Easier and Your Work More Impactful

Most of my clients have heard the term "managing up" but have only a vague understanding of what it means and why it's important.

Many people think that managing up is about managing your boss—or managing how your boss manages you.

Here's how I define it: Managing up is taking initiative and responsibility for your relationships so that you can influence those above you.

Often, we sit back and wait for those with formal authority to set the tone for our working relationships and set the direction for our organizations. Meanwhile, we complain about how we would do it differently, roll our eyes at their flaws, and grow frustrated as we impatiently wait for a leadership opportunity to open up. Because what else can we do? They hold the power, make the decisions and control the resources—and we have to deal with what comes down our way. Right?

Wrong. They may have the formal authority to make decisions, but authority (and the power and privilege that come with it) is not the only form of leadership, and certainly not the most important form.

No matter where you fall in the organization, you can lead through influence: the ability to shape and impact decisions.

Your ability to influence others isn't fixed—it's a skill that you learn and develop. It will make a world of difference in your experience at work, allowing you to:
• Move from feeling stuck, frustrated, and small into an openness to solutions.
• Develop a stronger working relationship with your manager.
• Step up to practice leadership when you're not at the top of the hierarchy.
• Advocate for the clients/customers/constituents you serve more effectively.
• Create more value and be seen as valuable.
• Feel more impactful and successful at work.

When you manage up by taking initiative and responsibility for your relationships and strategically influence the decision-makers above you, you become a strategic leader—no matter what your job title says.

Here are four steps to manage up and lead through influence:

REFRAME your relationship with your manager.
→ Instead of viewing your manager as the gatekeeper—or impediment—to your work, think of them as your most important stakeholder. You need each other in order to be successful: they need your talent and hard work, and you need their guidance and support to advocate for your ideas and gain access to the resources you need to make them happen.

INVESTIGATE what makes them tick.
→ Just like you would do for any key stakeholder, put on your Nancy Drew hat and investigate how they like to work. You need to understand how to bring an idea to your manager and successfully reach them. The three things you most need to know are: 1) How do they prefer to communicate? 2) How do they make decisions? 3) What are the goals that they're trying to achieve?

BUILD rapport and trust.
→ Without trust, influence can't happen. Build a trusting relationship with your manager by being awesome at your job, creating value, and following through on what you say that you'll do. Show them that you have their back by anticipating their needs and making sure that they're never blindsided. Your job is to make sure that the mission succeeds, and that means ensuring that your boss succeeds as well. Every leader has weak areas—instead of getting frustrated with your manager's flaws, think about how they might represent an opportunity for you. How could you step up to fill in the gaps.

INFLUENCE decisions strategically.
→ When you have a trusting relationship and know how your manager prefers to work, you're in a position to have true influence. Use what you’ve learned to frame your ideas in a way that will reach them. This is where you may inadvertently be getting it wrong: instead of stating your case as you understand it, you need to make the case in a way that they will understand it. Pitch it with a format, evidence, timing, and words that are compelling and persuasive to them. Tie it to their goals so they see how the change will make their work more streamlined, effective, or impactful. Give them the clarity and backup they need to run the idea up the ladder.

You might be thinking: Gosh, this sounds like I'm bending myself around my boss to cater to their quirks, changing my style in favor of theirs. But this process isn't about jumping through needless hoops, it's about developing into a skilled professional who understands how to connect with and reach others.

By recognizing that influence is a key skill to develop, you can begin to lead from where you presently are. And in the future—when you do have a position that comes with formal authority—you won't be someone who just tells people what to do, you'll be someone that people want to follow.