How to Manage Upwards to Fuel your Career
Written by: Sarah Jones, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Ever felt stuck in your career? Under-appreciated and under-utilized? You know you have more to offer and yet struggle to be seen by your colleagues and boss. This often leads to a state of ennui and resentment—what some might even call an attitude problem. Managing upwards is a way to reclaim your empowerment in the workplace, take ownership of your work, improve communication skills, and set the foundation for a thriving career.
Put simply, managing upwards means using management tools to tap into your highest potential as an employee and build a mutually beneficial relationship with your employer. Through the cultivation of specific communication skills and consciously establishing a healthy working relationship with your boss, you can train them how best to manage and utilize you as a valuable resource. It’s not about sucking up or manipulating your boss, rather bringing your best traits to the table and working towards mutual success through efficient communication.
Managing upwards asks us to take a closer look at our boss and put ourselves in their shoes. It requires a level of empathy and professionalism that not only benefits the entire organization but renders you an invaluable and irreplaceable asset. Reframing how we view and work with employers optimizes efficiency, meaning a more fulfilling career, more respect, confidence, and control.
Get to know your boss.
The key to establishing a symbiotic relationship with your employer is learning to work and communicate with them based on their specific personality, preferences, and learning style. As you gain deeper insight into your boss’s mindset and requirements, you’ll be able to exceed their expectations, make yourself indispensable to the workplace, and ultimately increase opportunities for your future career.
Start by observing your boss’s behavior, their communication style, what makes them tick. Get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, their values. Then, put yourself in their shoes, and don’t shy away from asking them about their priorities, their ultimate goals within the company, the role they envision for you in the future.
We tend to dehumanize our employees, forgetting they, too, have flaws and insecurities. So instead, take time to get to know them. This will enhance your communication and rapport with your boss, ultimately helping you anticipate their needs—and that’s how you become invaluable.
Build rapport.
As you get to know your boss, you’ll get a sense of how they prefer to communicate and how they make decisions. Check-in regularly, seek feedback and don’t hold back from providing feedback when appropriate. Employers and CEOS depend on insights from trusted employees. It’s a mistake to assume you should just do your work and keep your head down. Your perspective is valuable. The goal here is to develop trust and respect within the relationship, an honest flow of conversation.
Anticipate their needs.
By putting yourself in your boss’s shoes, you’ll be able to discern what they need before they know it themselves. Show consideration for their time and energy by offering to take work off their plate. Step up in a crisis and pay close attention to the ebbs and flows of your workplace so you can pitch in when it counts. Showing initiative will change the game, and you’ll soon become your boss’ go-to person, the one they can rely on.
Be Dependable and Reliable.
The last thing any employer needs is more problems. When issues come up, make it your job to do the groundwork and present solutions. Offer to take the lead and pick up the slack. By making their job easier, you’ll make your job easier.
Show you can remain calm under stress and adapt well to change. Become the rock when your boss is overwhelmed by taking on additional tasks, easing their workload, and staying cool under pressure. You’ll develop a reputation as a reliable and resilient asset, carving a place for yourself as an indispensable resource.
Use their tools of choice.
Sometimes good management comes down to practicalities. Figure out what tools your boss works best with. Do they prefer summaries or to get into the weeds? Shared documents, e-mails, or face-to-face meetings? Your boss might receive information better with lengthy reports, spreadsheets, or receiving updates orally—it depends on their learning style. Adapting to their preferred tools and smoothing out the method of communication will make everyone’s life easier—especially your employer’s.
By managing up, you are stepping into a place of power and paving the way to a thriving career. Build the tracks before the train comes, so when it does—you’ll be ready.
Sarah Jones, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sarah Jones - Published author, speaker, accredited personal & executive coach helps motivated, ambitious professionals & executives improve their career, find a new career, and help teams accelerate success & performance.
Due to significant early challenges in her own life, Sarah has always been tenacious, entrepreneurial & unafraid to speak her mind.
At times being the only woman in the boardroom amongst international corporations in her early 30s, she is a beacon of strength for leaders and individuals.
In Sarah’s former career, she was a leader in corporate affairs but founded Sarah-J Coaching to help individuals & leaders become their personal best in life and their careers.
She is dubbed the phrase 'regroup, reboot, and reinvent' - a three-step change process - having helped pull out individuals from the trenches & into their own spotlight through her transformative and action-based coaching approach.
Her book ‘From Vulnerable to Invincible’ helps readers identify how to step into their challenges, reframe & learn, to launch themselves to success.
She also regularly contributes to the media such as BBC, The Guardian & Sky. She regularly speaks and has delivered empowering talks for Pearson Business School and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
