Do you make anything of this? Last Monday I wrote about “managing up.” I got only 4 blog comments, three of which were random attacks on the Governor that were unrelated to my column. Typically 15-20 people weigh in. Then on my radio show this week the topic in the call-in hour was the same: how to manage up. And not a single call! I don’t think it’s accidental. I’ll tell you what I think, and I hope to hear what you think.
First, “managing up” can be a scary proposition. I imagine there were people who would have loved to call in and get some advice on handling a challenging boss, but those same people might have understandably been afraid to talk about it publicly. What if the boss heard?! I also suspect that people feel rather hopeless when it comes to this topic. “Geez,” I imagine them saying, “It’s hard enough to manage down, to manage your kids or your team, let alone to manage your boss or your parents!”
I’d love to hear whether you think this is true (you can blog with a pseudonym or anonymously). Do you aspire to managing up? Or do you think it’s too dangerous? Do you think you should try to manage up – i.e., is it the job of all us who wish to lead, to lead those who are the formal leaders? I suspect this could be a robust exchange, especially if we drop the gloves of abstraction and actually write honestly about how we approach leading up. Do you manage up? Why, or why not? What holds you back? And what works? I fervently invite you to contribute to this week’s blog and read what others have to say.
Here’s my take on it. I think managing up is risky. And I think there are genuine limits to how much you can get a manager to change his or her practices. But I think most of the time it’s worth the risk. If you lead with your best self, you will almost inevitably engage the formal leader(s) to share information, question assumptions, offer ideas, and otherwise act with ownership. I hope you might take a little ownership of this important conversation, and comment this week, as you
Lead with your best self
Dear Dan,
I believe that managing up takes courage, patience, grace and self examination. I have had the good fortune of having two of the most exceptional leaders with my current and most recent previous “bosses”. They accept feedback differently, and like me they have their teachable moments. Managing up take both positive and constructive feedback – this is the risky part. Like any relationship you weigh the risk with the potential reward – developing strenghts. The first question I begin with is “If this were me, how would I best accept the feedback?”, the second question is “Why do I need to give the feedback?”.
I have also had the experience of working for a person who deemed me inapropriate for the work place stating I should be in my place, like his daughter “barefoot and pregnant”. This person I managed around! Any other approach would have been a pure waste of my energy and talent.
The reward for kindness and generosity with others is that I am never disappointed in myself afterwards.
Sincerely,
Joan
You know, Mark, what it comes down to is that one person’s reality can be different from another person’s reality. We have all had supervisors who fancied themselves leaders but where only bosses. They actually create an enviornment in which everyone watches each other to see who can step on whom in order to look better in the boss’s eyes. You learn that the boss squashes any honest feedback that he/she can’t stomach and what he/she say then becomes the new “truth.” So what real feedback we give is determined by how fragile our umbilical cord is.
Hi Dan — As the leader of a professional function in a corporation, I cannot tell you how important it is to me that my people “lead up” for me. Nearly every day, they plant some great idea in my ear, save me from some boneheaded move, or find some other way to bring out the best in me and in our group. I know that there are bosses out there who don’t welcome this — I have always thought they are crazy (and far less effective). The power of the team is so much greater when it is a collection and collaboration of multiple talented people. My advice to any of your readers who have hesitated to lead their bosses: Take a chance on it. Odds are that you will shine out as a result of your willingness to speak up for the benefit of the team.
I am glad my team cares enough about our collective success to seize every opportunity to show me how to lead.
Doug
Managing up is an exhausting, frustrating and often fruitless exercise in state government. By the time someone gets it, they move on. What was the myth? Sisyphus? It is how we are those who are left to keep doing it everyday. Managing up is like being an elementary school teacher in a bad neighborhood. There are bright moments.
Dan,
I think people do this all the time. In some ways it’s vital in order to accomplish anything. It can be risky, a little too much managing up and your job may be in question. Doing it well can make all the differnce for everyone.
Kids do it all the time with parents, teachers and coaches, ect… Sometimes it feels like manipuation!
Having trust to manage up or down always seems to be the issue. The ability to create synergy by managing up is what is best for any organization. In the process you may find out more about a situation or program and have your mind changed from the discussions.
Managing up, is an uphill battle in most cases. Many people are resolved to let whoever is in charge make the decisions, and so they are what people above are calling the sheep. Managing up is a several step process. I have participated by commenting on many public issues. On average few of my experiences have been positive. The first battle is convincing an elected official that citizen comments and inquiries should be respected, that is to get the idea of managing up to be accepted within a company or government. Sometimes you can find a facilitator at a company, or a government, who will carry the ball, or open the doors. If you give up on the idea of getting credit for your ideas, you can accomplish a lot; however in the work place a superior taking your idea and then getting a bonus or advancement is hard to swallow, and all the more if several ideas were taken without giving the originator credit. In government it is not always hard to accept who gets credit if we make progress; however sometimes you know the person who got the credit, or re-elected is in reality a poor representative of the people. There can start a long story on how we chose our leaders, but for here, I will say that finding out whether a candidate is dedicated to better management, including the acceptance of managing up, is one important piece of knowledge we need to make a part of political campaigns. Given comments made by Dan in the article which starts this blog, for anyone with a furtive imagination; none of my comment here refers to Jennifer Granholm, who by and large I think does a wonderful job under trying circumstances. I do not think I would keep my grace as often as she does under the political circumstances of the last 6 years.
I have been managing up for most of my life. I discovered quite early that my primary job was NOT to do my job, (although I did and do continue to do my job(s). My primary job in any position was to figure out the boss’s immediate, and long term goals, get in the boat and row with them and help make them be successful, and therefore it was usually a cinch to keep them happy, and I was able to manage them and myself effectively. (This does not work very well with multiple bosses, find out who is Key, and their goals.)
When I was self-employed, every time the phone rang, it was the boss (customer) calling! Again, I had to figure out what they wanted, (Believe it or not,they DON’T always tell you directly!)
I have a feeling that sometimes when staff members get shot down trying to manage up, they didn’t do their homework fully beforehand. They might have asked for responsibility that was beyond what they were actually able to handle. I have one staff member that has wonderful suggestions, great ideas, and a bubbly, engaging attitude. The problem is her inability to meet deadlines, poor follow-thru and lack of stick-to-itiveness. She is good at her base, primary duties, but not new, special projects that require research, time and effort to pull together. On suggestion to employees is to give themselves a hard look through their bosses eyes, before they manage up.
I witnessed a toxic work environment in which the toxicity was employed by the employers. Along came an entry-level employee with a destructive narcissistic pattern who was fiercely ambitious. For the newcoming employee, “managing up” was de rigeur — a Machiavellian exercise in scheming, one-upmanship, scapegoating and discrediting, and most important: ego gratification. In this instance, “managing up” did not improve procedures or morale at the workplace. Toxicity increased, employees departed.