ARTICLES

Every management development program focuses on managing down — how to lead a team, develop people, handle performance and build culture.

The skill of managing up, of building a productive, honest and effective working relationship with the person you report to, is taught almost nowhere, despite being one of the most consequential relationships in a person’s professional life.

Managing up is not about managing impressions or political navigation, though those connotations have tainted the concept. It is about understanding what your leader needs to do their job effectively and contributing to that, while also advocating clearly for what you and your team need in return.

It means communicating proactively about risks and progress rather than waiting to be asked. It means bringing problems with proposed solutions rather than presenting problems as a full stop. It means being honest about capacity and constraints rather than agreeing to everything and underdelivering. And it means having the courage to raise concerns upward when something important is being missed.

The busineses where this skill is practised well are ones where information flows efficiently, where problems are identified early and where leaders are not routinely surprised by things that someone below them could see coming.

The businesses it is absent tend to have leaders who are poorly informed, teams who feel unheard and a persistent disconnect between what the business thinks is happening and what is actually happening on the ground.

It is a two-directional relationship. Developing both sides of it makes the whole organisation more effective.

 

If you want practical support reviewing your workplace policies, contracts, leadership capability, or workplace culture, Blue Kite HR Consulting can help you take a proactive approach before issues become bigger problems.