Why Managing Up Is a Leadership Skill

Research & Sources / Corporate Professional Growth

Put two strong rowers in one boat. If they pull at different times and in different rhythms, the boat zigzags and barely moves. If they find a shared rhythm, the boat flies across the water. You and your manager are in the same boat. Getting the rhythm right is not only their job. It is yours too.

What managing up is, and isn’t

“Managing up” sometimes sounds like flattery or office politics. It is neither. It is simply taking responsibility for a good working relationship with your manager, so that both of you can do your best work.

John Gabarro and John Kotter wrote a classic Harvard Business Review article on this. They argued that the relationship between a manager and their boss is one of mutual dependence, and that effective people actively work on it instead of leaving it to chance.¹

Understand your manager

Their goals: what are they measured on? What does their boss expect?

Their pressures: what keeps them up at night?

Their style: do they prefer short emails or long reports? Details or summaries? Morning or afternoon conversations?

Their strengths and gaps: where can you add most value?

Help them understand you

Managing up also means making sure your manager knows what you need: your priorities, your strengths, your workload and your development goals. Many managers simply don’t know when their team members are overloaded or underused, because nobody tells them.

Practical habits

• No surprises. Share problems early, together with a suggestion.
• Agree on priorities. When new requests compete, ask: “Which is more important to you?”
• Adapt to their style. If they prefer one-page summaries, give them one page.
• Keep your promises. Reliability builds trust faster than anything.
• Ask for feedback regularly, not only at review time.

Why it is a leadership skill

Gallup found that managers account for a very large share of the differences in how engaged teams are.² The relationship with your manager shapes your daily experience at work. People who handle it well learn to understand others’ goals, communicate clearly and build trust, which are exactly the skills leaders need with their own teams and peers.

What this means for you this week

• Write down your manager’s top three goals and pressures. Check with them if unsure.
• Ask how they prefer to receive updates.
• Bring one problem to them early, with a suggestion.
• Share your own priorities and ask whether they match.

Same boat, same rhythm. Then the boat moves.

Sources

1. Gabarro, J. J. & Kotter, J. P. (2005, originally 1980). Managing Your Boss. Harvard Business Review. hbr.orgA good relationship with your boss is a two-way responsibility: understand their goals and pressures, and make yours clear.
2. Harter, J. & Adkins, A. (2015). Employees Want a Lot More From Their Managers. Gallup. gallup.comManagers account for at least 70 percent of the variance in engagement; regular manager meetings make engagement almost three times as likely.