I had a client ask me how to manage his boss after giving a workshop on strategic hiring this summer. “Managing Upwards” is something I’ve done myself in the past, but only very very carefully. That’s because trying to make your boss do what you want them to do is a dangerous game that can easily back-fire on you.
My quick advice as he was heading out the door (and clients often have the most profound questions and insights in the last five minutes of the day) was:
- Deliver what your boss needs – what are they expecting from you?
- Understand what is expected from them, and support them in doing . What are your bosses priorities?
- What is the best way to communicate with her? Does she prefer written or spoken communications? Does she prefer detail or the bottom line? Is she interruptible or does a regularly scheduled update work better?
When I managed my boss it was because I had no other choice. I’d been assigned to a cool project as deputy project manager once, for a remote-controlled land-mine detection system, without the project manager being fore-warned.
It took me about six months of “status updates” over coffee to convince him I wasn’t there to take over his job. I talked about what I was working on, seeking clarification on work scope and schedule, figuring out what his biggest challenges were and supporting him where I could, or taking work he didn’t enjoy off his hands. Trust was established over time. It made working with him much easier.
HBR makes a good point in their article “Managing Your Boss“:
The fact is, bosses need cooperation, reliability, and honesty from their direct reports. Managers, for their part, rely on bosses for making connections with the rest of the company, for setting priorities, and for obtaining critical resources. If the relationship between you and your boss is rocky, then it is you who must begin to manage it. When you take the time to cultivate a productive working relationship—by understanding your boss’s strengths and weaknesses, priorities, and work style—everyone wins.
So if by “managing your boss” we mean understanding their strengths and weakness, priorities, and work style, then really we’re just managing the relationship. That’s a good way to approach any boss.
