Managing Up

Managing up - how to lead even when you're not in charge. This is what we'll be talking about today on how to lead the podcast for CEOs, founders, and leaders who want to find that perfect balance of authority and empathy. I'm Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'm sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

Before we start, don't forget to check out my book, How to Lead, my group coaching programme, the Leadership Accelerator Premium, my one-to-one coaching services and my team coaching at www.waterfallhill.co.uk. Places are always strictly limited and sell out each month, so book now for yourself or for your team. Right. Today we're talking about managing up a topic. Nobody teaches you in your first management job, but one that can quietly make or break your career.

Managing up isn't about people pleasing brown-nosing or endlessly nodding in meetings while your soul quietly leaves your body. It's about building healthy, productive, professional relationships with your boss or senior stakeholders. One way you manage expectations.

Advocate for your team and get what you need without burning out or losing your voice.

Let's start with Linda, the bad manager, my alter ego on social media, and see her unique style of managing up in action.

“Managing up is all about understanding your boss's needs. For example, my boss William, he loves praise. So I start every meeting with great tie, fantastic leadership energy there, William, even when we're on teams. And second, I keep him out of anything remotely difficult. I say things like, William, I've shielded you from the noise.

He has no idea what the noise is, but he appreciates being protected from it. Thirdly, I always see him on things he doesn't really need to see, just so he knows I'm across everything. But if I mess anything up, I blame miscommunication at an operational level, which basically implies Jason's made a mistake.

I once told him he had a rare blend of vision and humility, and now he asked me to say it in front of everyone at every offsite meeting. Some people call it brown-nosing. I like to think of it as personal career development.”

Yes, as usual, Linda, giving us a true masterclass there, but let's talk about how to do it better. First of all, why does managing up matter? We often talk about how to lead teams. It's what I spend the bulk of my time talking about, but we rarely focus on how to lead upwards, and yet it's something most people have to do daily.

Whether you report to a CEO, a board, maybe some investors or just one VP who schedules back-to-back meetings and then cancels them all last minute, managing upwards is a critical skill and here's why. It affects your ability to get resources, support, and buy-in.

It shapes how your team is seen and treated. It determines how overwhelmed or empowered you feel day to day, and it can be the difference between progressing in your career or growing your business, or quietly fuming in the background for three years. Managing up isn't about changing your boss, it's about how you interact with them and getting the best out of your relationship.

A lot of the time managers and leaders would do well to really have a think about the other person's point of view and reframing the conversation, bearing that in mind. So think of managing up, like managing any key stakeholder. They have goals, they have pressure, they have gaps in their information, and they're also not psychic.

If you're expecting your boss just to know instinctively that you are overloaded, frustrated, or full of good ideas, you are handing them a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing. Good leaders don't wait to be managed well, they manage up.

Let's establish exactly what I mean by managing up. It's about communicating clearly and proactively with the people that matter.

It's also a good idea to have in mind that if you want to make your life easier, making your manager's life easier is a good idea. This helps them to help you if they understand and know the pressures you're under. Know how long things take, know your successes and your challenges.

They're more likely to be able to support you. It also makes sure that you are aligning your work with their priorities, and that's important for your career and your prospects and how they view you.

Managing up is also asking for support when you need it. Don't feel you have to struggle alone, but it also gives you the opportunity to give feedback tactfully and at the right time because you've built the relationship. It's not about avoiding conflict to keep them happy, just being a yes person.

Actually, your manager probably doesn't want that, even if instinctively they bulk when you challenge them. We're going to talk about how to challenge respectfully in a minute, but also agreeing to everything to prove your worth isn't a good idea either. It's just people pleasing, but actually it doesn't please anybody.

Don't suffer in silence because you don't want to seem difficult and don't pretend things are fine when they're not.

All these things might feel like they're smoothing the path between you and your manager, but actually then you are not being authentic.

So let's explore five practical principles that you can apply no matter what your manager is like in terms of managing up. So first of all, know their world. If you don't understand what your boss is trying to achieve, you'll struggle to get traction. So ask yourself, maybe even ask them what are their biggest priorities right now?

What's keeping them up at night and how are they being measured?

So you might ask them directly, what's most important for you this quarter, and how can I support that? What does success look like from your perspective? when you show you understand their world, your requests carry more weight.

So knowing their world is the first step. Then secondly, make yourself easy to manage. Behave like the person you wish you had in your team. So this isn't about being a yes person. And easy because you just say yes to everything. It's about being reliable and clear. So things that make you easy to manage are things like you flagging issues early.

You following up when you say you will, you summarizing the issues as you see them, but importantly, proposing solutions as well.

And most managers want you to give them the headline, not the detail. So think of yourself as a translator. Your job is to make their decision making easier. So instead of saying the project's delayed because we're waiting on design, sign off, try to be more specific. We're two days behind. If we get sign off by Thursday,

we'll be able to stay on track. If not, the launch is going to have to move to next month. Shall I escalate?

So knowing their world and being easy to manage are the first two steps. The third one is communicating in the way they prefer. So some bosses want data, others want gut feel. Some like bullet points. Others want the backstory. Some want the detail. Others want the headlines. You don't have to agree with their style, but you do need to adapt to it.

So start by noticing. Do they prefer emails, calls, or face-to-face? Do they interrupt you or do they let you finish? Do they care more about speed? Quality or political implications, then try to mirror your style if you can. You still want to be authentically you, but also you want your message to land well.

So if they're short and sharp, lead with the punchline. if they want context, offer a quick overview. If you're not sure which they prefer, you could try asking.

A top tip here is if you feel like your boss is just overwhelmed, perhaps you could say to them, would a short weekly summary help you keep track an actual fact? If it was me, I would just send them the summary anyway.

So we've got knowing their world, making yourself easy to manage, communicate the way they prefer. And then the fourth one is setting boundaries and managing expectations. This one can be tricky, especially if your boss is disorganized, demanding, or simply unaware of how much is on your plate. But if you say yes to everything, never push back and magically get it all done.

You're setting yourself up. Don't be surprised when the requests keep coming. You have to train people how to treat you.

So when you get asked to do something that you think you're just not going to be able to achieve, still greet that with, oh yeah, I'm happy to do this, but to make it work I'll need to pause X or move deadline y. Does that work for you? Or something like, I want to do this. Well, can I suggest we focus on the top three priorities first?

It's not about saying no, it's about making trade-offs visible.

The fifth principle of managing up after knowing their world, making yourself easy to manage, communicating the way they prefer. Setting boundaries and managing expectations is giving feedback upwards. And you can do this if your boss is doing something unhelpful, like not listening, being unclear, taking credit for your work, you are allowed to say.

So it just takes care, timing and some structure. So here's a framework for you. Start with intent, I wanted to raise something that might help us work together better. This might appeal to them as something that they'd like to do. So it's a good way to start and then share the impact. When I get last minute changes, it makes it harder to hit quality.

And then suggest an alternative. Would it be helpful if we built in a buffer for late input? So you're not criticizing, you're collaborating. It's not that they've done something wrong, it's just you'd like to change the process. And if you think they'll be defensive, start smaller. Offer feedback when things go well.

I really appreciate it when you backed me up in that meeting. It made such a big difference, and this builds trust and makes future conversations easier. You don't need to brand those, but you just need to be appreciative.

Let's look at tailoring the approach to different boss types. There are a few common manager types and I'd like to share how you might manage up with each. So let's say you've got an overloaded boss, keeps cancelling your one-to-ones, forgets what they've asked for, is always multitasking.

I suggest you send them short written updates, book a time in their calendar with a clear purpose and make decisions where you can but flag only what needs them. In your short written update, you could literally just cover your successes, your challenges, what you've learned, what you need from them, and any ideas you've got.

If you've got a micromanager that asks for updates all the time, rewrites your work and never seems fully satisfied, then I suggest you up your proactivity. Send progress reports. Before they ask, ask them, would it help if we agreed milestones upfront, what would give you comfort that I'm getting on well with this project?

Gently show them that they can trust you and thank them when they give you space.

Perhaps your boss is the vague visionary, full of ideas, not interested in the detail, constantly changing direction. Doesn't always follow through. The solution here would be to recap action points in writing. Ask for clarity, which of these is the highest priority, and then anchor conversations in goals.

Does this align with the objective? We agreed. And if they keep moving the goalposts and keep coming up with new ideas and aren't keen on telling you the priority, just push for it. Keep going. Keep asking. I can't keep doing everything. I need to know what's the priority. And if you don't choose, then I will.

Then we've got the checked out boss. the one that's detached, distant, disengaged, rarely gives you any feedback, seems more focused on their next move than anything that you are doing. It's still important that you advocate for your own growth here. So ask direct questions like, what would make me a stronger candidate for promotion or, in order to keep doing a better job, I'd really appreciate your feedback on how I did last month. Find alternative mentors and allies in the business if you need to.

So, in summary then managing up isn't about surviving your boss. It's about leading from where you are. As Simon Sinek says, be the leader that you wish you had. So, have a think about understanding their goals, making communication easy. Adapt to their style. Be clear about the trade-offs. So don't just say yes to everything.

Say you can do that, but not this. Give them feedback tactfully and tailor your approach to who they are. You can't control your boss, but you can control how you show up in that relationship, and that's where your power lies.

So that's all for today's episode of How to Lead. Until next time, keep leading with Clarity, care, and curiosity. If you've enjoyed this episode, please do follow for more leadership insights. And if you'd like my personal support, take a look at my website, www.waterfallhill.co.uk. You'll find there more information about my one-to-one coaching, my group program, the Leadership Accelerator Premium, and my team coaching offers.

There's never been a better time to take your professional development or without of your team seriously than right now. I'd be delighted if you could like leave a review and share the How To Lead Podcast with your fellow leaders to help spread the word.

The best leaders are clear on the vision, care about their people, and approach interactions with curiosity, not judgment. Until next time, thanks for listening.