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Managing Upwards

Written by: Paul Bridle

Article Overview: One of the statements that is often made to trainers, speakers and coaches is, “My boss would not allow me to implement what you are saying” or “that is not the way we do things in our organization”. It is very frustrating. Many managers send their people on learning and development activities and have no idea what the content really is and how they can best support the individual when the individual returns to work. So people attend and then do not apply their learning back in their work place. Many people sit in frustration because their boss will not allow them to make a decision or take responsibility and act on it. Many middle managers are faced with these issues and the whole business is held back as a result. In these situations there is a need to understand how to manage upwards. It is about how to manage your boss.

Managing Upwards

Here are a few tips that will help you. It is not always possible to do some, or any of the points I will make, but it will give you a better understanding of what is needed.

First let us look at the boss above you and understand their fears. In many cases the boss is incapable of letting go. It may not always be intentional but they have the habit of staying in control, at some level. In many cases they need to stay in control to a certain level, but at the same time they may forget to which level.

Humans are creatures of habit and it may simply be that the boss has not noticed that they are maintaining such a level of control. It has become a habit and they make decisions that you could make or control things that you could do for them. In these situations you need to gently make them aware that you have enough experience now and maybe you could make their job easier if you were to now assume more responsibility.

It is important to note at this stage, when you ask to take more ownership for something, you need to be open and willing to provide feedback about your progress. If your boss is to let go, they will want to know that everything is working out. Verbal reassurance will not be enough. Your boss will want to know how you are, and will be measuring progress in a real way.

If you try to understand it from their point of view, the boss has a sense of how things are working out and has a feel when intervention is needed. They are not sure that you have that same level of ‘feeling’ or sense of being able to recognize that something may need adjusting or intervention is needed. Also, the boss wants to know that you will not try to hide issues if something is going wrong. They need reassurance that you will ask them for advice or support before it is too late.

One of the greatest fears a boss has is that something will go wrong and they were not informed, they were kept in the dark and/or they will be held accountable for something that they simply did not know was a problem until too late. Any boss is desperate to know that the people that report to them will not drop them in it, due to lack of communicating what is happening.

So an important part of managing upward, and especially at the time of seeking to get the boss to let go, is to provide reassurance. Frequent updates is one way of doing this and to some bosses, going to them with a question (even if you know the answer) is helpful because it shows that you are willing to seek their advice.

Another way is to understand that integrity is something that you earn with people. It takes some time and is easily lost. You are building up trust with your boss that you are capable of being trusted with the responsibility to do the task that is required.

Another practical step you can take to managing your boss is to understand the issues they are facing. You are well aware of what the world looks like from where you are standing, but what about what it looks like from their position? Your boss will probably have a different perspective on the business, the challenges ahead and the problems they have to deal with. They should have a wider perspective than you on the business as a whole and so have things on their minds that you are not aware of.

Take the time to understand the issues your boss has. Lift your eye level and see the wider issues from your their perspective. Don’t be judgemental about what you see. It is easy to be-little the issues when you are one step removed from the issue. Simply understanding their issues and perspectives can create a level of trust between you and your boss.

Finally, it is worth knowing the difference between you and your boss. I am talking about the different personality types involved. There are a number of personality styles and they are described in various ways and using varying titles and even colours. The point is, what type of person are you and what type is your boss?

For example, many bosses fit the “Driver” or “Pragmatic” category. This means they are outgoing, on the go, rushing from place to place and often have a short attention span. If you are one of the other personality styles, then you are likely to find this aggressive and/or annoying because they won’t sit still or give you the time.

If you are the “Analytical”, then you like detail and methodical processes that are considered and well thought through. You will probably find anyone else who does not match your style as being irrational. Regardless of your style you expect that others will be like you and when they are not, then you jump to conclusions that may not be ideal in building a relationship.

Take the time to understand your bosses profile compared to yours. You may find it answers a lot of questions about your frustrations. Then ask yourself, what do you need to do to satisfy that profile? What allowances do you need to make? Simple things like how you present information, how you communicate, what you spend time on and the level of detail you need to give, are all aspects of being able to respect other personality profiles.

It is possible to manage upwards. You have to work at it, but it can also be very rewarding. Take the time to learn the skill and you will find that you have a better relationship with your boss.

Paul Bridle
Leadership Methodologist

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Article Tags: boss, creatures of habit, decisions, fears, job, point of view, reassurance



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