Master the Art of Managing Up: 7 Game-Changing Strategies for Leaders

Read Time: 5 minutes.

“Tell me, have you seen the Godfather trilogy?”

This was an odd question. Certainly not the first question I expected when meeting my new boss for the first time. I paused, waiting for the punchline.

There wasn’t one.

Sensing he actually wanted to know, I nervously affirmed that I had grown up with cable and seen it multiple times.

“Good!” He relaxed and sank back into his chair, pressing his fingertips together, not unlike the Simpsons’ boss Montgomery Burns.

“Because 100% of my management philosophy comes from that masterpiece.”

I again waited for a punchline that would never come.

The joke was on me.

My career was now in the hands of a Fortune 500 mob boss wannabe.

But over the next 18 months, I learned a vital lesson.

I learned how to manage up.

The Lie: I Need To Manage Up Better

Whenever someone tells me they need to manage up more effectively, I’m skeptical. They’re often deflecting attention from the real problem.

They’re not delivering.

It’s not a marketing problem.
The product isn’t valuable enough.

And unfortunately, they’re the product.

So before we devote too much time looking up, take an honest look in the mirror.

• Are you delivering at or above your expectations?

• Are those outcomes sustainable or from heroics?

• Are people lined up to join your team or fleeing?

• Are you a trusted ally or an avoided headache?

You can’t manage anyone—certainly not your boss—until you can manage yourself.

The good news is that being excellent is 75% of managing up.

How about the other 25%?

Your Manager’s Character

We previously covered Managing Up 101. Mastering the art requires adapting your approach based on the type of leader you're dealing with.

Here are some common "characters" you might encounter and strategies that will resonate most with each of them:

The Relentless Micromanager

• Characteristics:

  • Needs to control every detail.

  • Frequently checks in and asks for updates.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Provide frequent, detailed updates before they ask.

  • Never let them be surprised by any meaningful issues.

  • Show that you are on top of your tasks and capable of handling details.

• Love Language: High-Velocity Details

The Volatile Visionary

• Characteristics:

  • Focuses on big ideas and long-term goals.

  • Everything is extreme: failure or excellence.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Align your work with their vision and demonstrate how your tasks contribute to the big picture.

  • Build the recipe to convert their high-level ideas into actionable steps.

  • Keep them informed on how your actions are moving towards their goals.

• Love Language: Contrarian Insights

The Hands-Off Auto-Pilot

• Characteristics:

  • Hands-off approach, trusts the team to manage themselves.

  • Rarely provides direct guidance.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Take initiative and lead projects without waiting for direction.

  • Keep them in the loop with periodic updates to ensure alignment.

  • Seek their input when necessary but be prepared to make decisions independently.

• Love Language: Forgiveness Debriefs

The Data-Driven Scientist

• Characteristics:

  • Relies heavily on data and analytics for decision-making.

  • Prefers detailed reports and factual information.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Present your ideas and updates with clear, data-backed evidence.

  • Be precise and avoid anecdotal information.

  • Use charts, graphs, and statistics to support your points.

• Love Language: Nothing but the facts. And sparklines!

The Overwhelmed Plate-Spinner

• Characteristics:

  • Juggles many responsibilities and is constantly busy.

  • Often appears stressed and overworked.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Offer solutions, not just problems, to lighten their load.

  • Be concise and to the point in your communications.

  • Prioritize tasks that align with their most immediate concerns.

• Love Language: “Let me help with that.”

The Disconnected Diva

• Characteristics:

  • Seems out of touch with the organization and its strategy.

  • May not fully understand the day-to-day challenges the team faces.

• How to Manage Up:

  • Help them connect the dots by providing context and background information on key issues.

  • Facilitate their understanding of how your team's work aligns with the broader organizational strategy.

• Love Language: Frontline Stories. Repeatable Anecdotes.

With a vivid picture of our manager in mind, let’s look at some proven tactics to help you help them.

Practical Tactics for Managing Up Effectively

Do a Google search, and you’ll get all the traditional management theory:

• Understand their goals

• Anticipate their needs

• Communicate clearly

These aren’t wrong. They just aren’t helpful.

If this is all it took, you’d have stopped reading already.

So let’s get real with some slightly sharper tactics. These are not one-size-fits-all, so choose your weapons carefully.

Invert Your Check-ins

If you’re waiting for your manager to schedule 1:1s and lay out their preferred format, you might be waiting a while.

• Frame the meeting as yours. You’ll ensure they’re informed, and you’ll take ownership for optimizing your time together.

• Be transparent. I recommend maintaining a dashboard (the same format I use for my directs) so that they have plenty of surface area.

Managers fill the space you leave empty. So don’t.

“Bad News By Rocket. Good News By Rickshaw.”

Irrespective of the archetype, no manager wants to get caught off guard. You target: No surprises. 

• If there’s bad news, make sure you deliver it.

• If there’s good news, make sure it’s gonna stick before you celebrate.

Manning Your POST

Leaders want solutions, not problems. But the solutions are not always obvious. And some of us get frozen and choose the worst path: silence (see above).

• Problem - Better than silence, but do you really have no ideas?

• Options - If you have more than one, they better be real options?

• Suggestion - Now you’re starting to look like an owner.

• Transparency - Forgiveness instead of permission.

If the consequences of being wrong are big or the steps to buy down risk are cheap, take one step back to suggestion. The more you bring the right solution, the more you’ll be trusted.

Clarity Is Created. Not Given.

Nine times out of ten, your manager doesn’t have the answer you crave. So asking them to draw you a map isn’t going to get you anywhere.

• Look for analogies in the world. Find a close proxy and then ask, “Why couldn’t this work here?” Now you have something to work from.

• Look to peers inside your company. If you have more than 15-20 employees, you have examples to work from and people to ask.

• Look for small experiments. When there’s no clear answer, figure out a small step that’ll produce real data. Use that to gain clarity.

But when in doubt, if you’re lacking clarity, it’s your problem to solve, not theirs.

Market Your Management Growth

The Spotlight Effect is real. No one is looking at you nearly as much as you think. So if you want them to notice your growth, you need a marketing plan.

• Steal from Zig Ziglar. The marketing genius said, “Tell them what you’re going to do. Tell them while you’re doing it. Tell them you did it.”

• When you get feedback from them, adopt his model. Say it back to them with your plan. Mention your progress each time you meet (offer outside data if possible). After a while, ask them to reassess your growth.

Even modest improvements will be noticed favorably because you’ve connected the dots for them along the way.

Be a Filter, Not a Funnel

• Don’t pass every issue up the chain. Filter out the noise and escalate only what truly matters. This will show your judgment as valuable.

• One simple way to think about it is headlines, punchlines, and nothing in between.

If you need help synthesizing the state of your team, we’ve got you.

Yes Is Inevitable. No Is Invaluable.

Don’t be afraid to disagree when necessary.

• Feedback goes both ways. Your manager is imperfect too. And that includes mind-reading. Tell them how they can get more from you.

• Help them avoid mistakes. Presenting a well-thought-out counterpoint can earn you respect and show that you’re thinking critically about the business. And that you care about their success as much as your own.

What You Missed

Here are a few posts that got outsized attention this week.

• Common Excuses For Not Managing Up

• Meaningful Work Is The Real Perk

• Timeless Rule To Lead Effectively

• 5 Most Common Management Challenges

• Build Your Employee Engagement Heatmap

For new readers, that last one links to one of our most popular templates.

Podcast Alert

This week’s podcast: The MSP Mindset.

I stepped a bit outside my usual lane, and I’m glad I did.

We went deep on:

• Can you accurately evaluate if you’re leading effectively?

• The magical power of transforming “Or” into “And”

• How parenting makes you a better leader

Find it on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite platform.

Thank you for reading. Appreciate you!

Dave