What Managing-Up Looks Like
I was recently in a coaching conversation with a new manager. Her new boss had told her in the interview that it was important to him that the new hire be able to manage-up. So in our conversation, the new manager was speculating about all the ways she thought managing-up would benefit her boss.
She came up with a fascinating list. As I listened to her go on and on about all the actions she intended to take to manage-up, it became very clear to me that she had missed a very important first step.
She never asked her boss how he wanted to be supported.
“These are all great ideas. I’m curious, how do they align with your bosses’ thoughts on what managing-up looks like?”
She paused for a moment and said, “Well, I don’t know that”.
“Hmm. How might you find out?”
She immediately recognized that she has in fact missed the first step in developing a healthy managing-up relationship - asking a curious question.
“I remember in the interview you said that it was important to you that I be able to manage-up. I’d like to explore a bit what a successful managing-up relationship would look like to you?
What are the specific areas where you would welcome this specific kind of support from me?”
Successful managing-up relationships are nuanced and look different in every situation. There isn’t one specific formula or process that works. As I told my client, there is only one way to know if you’ve gone too far and that is based on feedback that you receive, both verbal and nonverbal.
I recommend that when you are creating a new managing-up relationship that you take it slowly and ask for feedback often:
“How was that for you?”
“Was it helpful when I stepped in to support you?”
“Is there anything you’d like to see me do differently?”
Remember the point of managing-up is to help fill a gap so that your boss is as successful as they can be. It is not to manipulate an outcome or to get them to behave in a way you think they should. It’s to help them to step more fully into their authentic leadership presence.
My coaching client’s homework was, yup, you guessed it...to have a conversation about their managing-up relationship and gain insight on how she can be as supportive and effective as possible.
Want to learn more about managing-up?
Check out our video replay and PDF on the website.