Managing Up

I don’t think I ever aspired to be a people leader early in my career. I mean… I’ve always been bossy but overseeing super important things that had such a direct impact on a person’s social, emotional, and financial well-being wasn’t something I was originally eager to take ownership of. When the opportunity presented itself, it seemed simple at first. I’d have one direct report. She was a high performer and excellent at her job. We got along well. We were peers, but she had no interest in becoming a people leader.

Soon, my team grew from 1 to 5. My team was/is tight. We are good at what we do and we are respected across the organization. I can't take credit for all of that because we are a TEAM. Being a part of that team and experiencing the successes, failures, and challenges both personally and professionally ranks right up there with raising a child and will undoubtedly be one of the most rewarding things I will ever accomplish in my professional career.

I was very fortunate to have had many amazing leaders during my career to date, and I was lucky that my company had an amazing L&D department to lead me through a robust leadership development program. Some of the things that have helped me be successful were garnered directly from these experiences. Some were probably because my team is comprised of a group of unicorns - they make my job so much easier. Some were because I strived to be the type of leader I personally needed for me to be successful in my role and keep all the other emotional and ethical tolls the workforce presents in check. And... some were apparently related to my ability to “manage up”.

So, what does managing up mean?

According to The Wall Street Journal, it involves "making your boss's job easier and adapting to work effectively with someone who may have a different approach than you." Mary Abbajay, the president and CEO of Careerstone Group LLC and author of "Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss," emphasizes that effective managing up benefits not only you but also your boss and the organization.

Even though I was unknowingly managing up in my professional life, I never really heard of, or at least paid much attention to the term managing up. Recently, I read a comment someone made that implied managing up was a negative trait and people who were skilled in doing so are really just pulling the wool over their leader's eyes to mask their own incompetence. Intrigued, I searched Google to really get clarity on the term’s meaning.

What I learned is that managing up IS NOT trying to pull one over on your leadership and mask your incompetence. Managing up is IS NOT a secret pact made to put someone in a role they are undeserving of. Managing up IS something that everyone should do and be proud of being able to do well. These principles of managing up are key to success and balance at work AND at home.

Whether you are a leader in the workplace, for a volunteer role, or just someone who wears the pants in your household, you MUST manage right the hell up. Manage up all over that shit. You know why? Because it builds trust, relationships, careers, self-confidence, independence, and success. More than anything, it sets you up to be that role model, that leader, that someone who your tribe looks up to and models their behaviors after. If you find yourself in a situation where managing up is not lauded, you need to be rethinking your place in that toxic situation.

Carry on now…

Lyndsay – proud and successful manage-upper.