• Not referring to political maneuvering, manipulation, kissing up, being fake, or to “apple-polishing”.

• It involves teaching your boss how to manage you.

• It involves a deliberate effort to bring understanding and cooperation to a relationship between individuals who often have different perspectives.

• The most significant factor impacting your job satisfaction is your relationship with your direct supervisor
(75% of people leave job because of the relationship with supervisor)

• Recent studies suggest that most effective employees make the time and effort to manage not only relationships with their subordinates but also those with their bosses.

Ask our participants what managing up looks like to them.

Have they done this?
What have they discovered?

• Increases your impact at work & your career success
• Creates a positive workplace
Allows you to show your value and take on additional responsibility
• Builds confidence in your abilities
• Establishes a mutual understanding of the goals and objectives
• Minimizes misinterpretations and miscommunications

• Allows us to build on each other’s strengths
• Reminds us that we are all human and not perfect – we expect perfection from one another
o Many employees assume that the boss will magically know what information or help you need and will provide it. Certainly, some bosses do an excellent job of caring for their staff in this way, but a more reasonable expectation for employees is to remember that, just like you, your boss is human and other things are taking them away from supervision. They don’t have unlimited time, encyclopedic knowledge, or extrasensory perception; nor are they evil enemies. They have their own pressures and concerns that are at odds with your wishes —and often for good reason.

Expectation of supervisors - care for staff members and do an excellent job of supporting staff and helping them develop.
Expectation of supervisees - do an excellent job of supporting boss and helping them to develop.

Two way street…Synergistic Relationship that relies on mutual support, communication, and understanding
Prioritize building a good relationship with your boss. The value of a good relationship is that it gives you a solid foundation when stressful times arise. The open communication and sense of trust are needed to resolve issues quickly.

You should have a strategic plan to “manage up” and figure out how to work with your boss more effectively. No matter how good or bad your manager may be, it’s vital to make this relationship work.

Why leave the quality of that relationship solely in your boss’ hands? Here are 7 tips to take charge and manage up.

1. Get to know your supervisor
I’m not saying you need to plan trips together or be best buddies, but be intentional and get a sense for who he is as a person. Where did she come from? How did he get where he is now? What are the lessons she learned along the way? What does she care about? Figure out what matters most to the individual. Also try to understand the boss’ pressures. Put yourself is their shoes. Try to understand what causes them stress, what deadlines they have, what keeps him up at night. and what their boss’ expectations are of them? Once you determine those items, you can frame your ideas so they resonate with those priorities.

2. Anticipate your supervisor’s needs
Once you understand your boss’ goals, you’ll be better equipped to anticipate his needs. For example, if you know that your boss’ goal is to sign contracts with six new clients over the next month, notice when there are high-priority prospect meetings on his calendar and ask what he needs from you to be prepared. By asking for what your manager needs before he thinks to ask you for it, you’ll make a welcome contribution—without looking like you’re sucking up.

3. Tell your supervisor how to best use your talents
Research shows that great managers uncover what’s unique about each person on the team—and then exploit the heck out of it. In order for your boss to do that, you need to tell her what your talents are and how you can use those powers for good in the organization and to serve her success. What are your strengths? What does your Myers-Briggs or DISC typology say about you ? How do you deal with pressure, conflict, deadlines, and time management? What assets do you bring to the table—and how do they complement your manager’s strengths?
Once you have a firm grasp on these things, have a conversation about how best to leverage what you bring to the organization. Managing up is a process of combining the best of both of you to create success for everyone.

4. Look for the positives in your supervisor
Sometimes the difference between a good boss and a bad one is only a matter of perspective. But your perspective and perception is not always reality. It may be skewed from your place in the organization. Your attitude toward a person creates that person. We play a part in creating the way someone treats us. If you look for the negative you will find it. Likewise, if you are looking for the positive you will find that as well. Honestly assess your current perspective of the dynamic between you and your boss to see if it's truly accurate and fair. How might you see the situation from their point of view? What important details might they be privy to that you’re missing?

5. Never let your supervisor get blindsided
Something bad has happened. There’s an angry student, an unhappy colleague, or an upset community member poised to escalate things over your head. That means your boss (or boss’s boss) is going to get the call. Most people are annoyed when they are caught off guard and know nothing about the situation at hand. When you know that call is coming, get your boss the details of the situation and the corrective action that’s already in play (because you’ve already taken care of that, right?) so he or she is prepared and confident when that phone rings.

6. Do your job well
Your job is to support your boss’ success and the organization’s success. That’s what you were hired to do. Managers don’t want people on their team who drag them down. They look for people to make them look like rock stars . Understand and accept this as your mission. One of the best ways you can manage up is to manage you. Keep your commitments. Meet deadlines ahead of time . Keep your boss in the loop about the progress you’ve made before she asks. When you do your job well , you give your supervisor something to brag about in staff meetings. It’s professional capital and a point of pride.

7. Be proactive…Come with solutions not problems
• Here is the problem I foresee coming.
• Here are the actions I have taken to mitigate it.
• Here are the solutions I propose to fix it.
• Here is how we can keep it from happening in the future.

• While you want to make your boss's life easier, you don't want to give your boss full range to treat you like his or her personal assistant if that's not in your job description.
• You want to be helpful and agreeable, but you don't want to stack the deck against yourself by volunteering to absorb work that will make your job intolerable.
• What are you allowing to stand in your way? Pride? Spite? How is that helping you? How is it helpinng your staff and colleagues?
• Not referring to political maneuvering, manipulation, being fake, or to apple-polishing.
• Don’t overstep and try to do the job for someone or try to outshine them

Take a moment to write a list of what you need to do in the coming weeks to help yourself manage your supervisory relationship better.

Give yourself deadlines

Find someone to hold you accountable