Learning to manage your boss is a crucial skill. Every good leader ought to work on it.

Managing your boss sounds slimy or manipulative. It doesn’t need to be. Managing up and sucking up are different beasts. Managing up is about learning to work better with leverage. Sucking up is acting obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage. Big difference!

Sucking up is manipulative. Managing up builds credibility.

Here are 3 ways you can build credibility with your boss:

1. Tune into your boss’s style.
2. Show your work.
3. Ask for feedback.

💎 How do I tune into my boss’s style? Get to know them.

– Figure out your boss’s top 3 priorities.
– Observe how your boss likes to make decisions.
– Ask your boss how they like to receive their information.

💎 How do I show my work? Bring them along the journey.

– Share where + how you need their support.
– Share what your team is working on.
– Share some of your constraints.
– Share the wins and the losses.
– Share solutions.

💎 How do I ask for feedback? Ask the following:

– What’s one thing I can do to improve XYZ?
– What’s one thing I can do to support you better?
– What’s one thing I should start doing differently on XYZ?

When you start managing up, you start exercising influence. You build a better relationship, faster. The best time to start is today.