Managing Up: Strategies for Better Collaboration with Your Boss
This chapter focuses on the concept of managing up in a professional setting. It highlights the significance of having the right attitude and fostering a spirit of learning when working with one's boss. The episode also offers strategies for better understanding one's boss, including considering their experience, background, and core values. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of self-reflection to gain clarity on one's own values, goals, and work style.
Many of us silently yearn for an easy relationship with our boss, one in which he can understand us intuitively. But managers are human. They can’t read minds any better than you can. And even the best ones make mistakes. That’s why today I want to talk about how to “manage up.” I’m talking about using strategies for enhanced collaboration between you and your boss. I want to show you how you can initiate these strategies, rather than waiting for your boss to become a better manager.
The right attitude is critical if you want to learn to manage up. Start by de-escalating any resentment you have toward your boss. Open yourself up to the idea of collaborating with your boss. And cultivate a spirit of learning. Even if you don’t see your boss as a mentor, there’s lots you can learn from him.
With the right attitude, you can then go about trying to understand your boss better. Reflect on what you know about the person. Ask yourself: what is this person’s experience and background? Then, how does this experience and background inform his core values?
