Managing Up: The Do's And Don'ts And Why It's Important For Success

The truth about relationships is that however you feel about someone, they probably feel the same way about you. Or, at least they can guess how you feel about them.

Ask yourself this: If you don’t want to help your manager by managing up, then why should they want to help you by managing down? Having a less-than-great relationship with your manager isn’t doing you (or your career) any favors, especially if they have the power to fire you. 

• Get to know your manager: Learn more about the human behind your manager. Find out what they like, dislike, and value most.
• Do an honest self-assessment: Consider how your colleagues and your manager view you.
• Adapt: You cannot change your manager (no matter how hard you try). But you can change yourself and how you react to others.
• Be proactive: Managing up takes some effort and proactivity on your part: if you know that your manager is too busy to notice something, be proactive and bring it to their attention.  

• Don’t manipulate the situation or others: Managing up is not about trying to manipulate every situation for your own personal benefit, no matter the cost.
• Don’t keep doing what frustrates your manager.
• Don’t add more to your manager’s plate: Adding more work to your boss’ plate isn’t managing up effectively. That means don’t bend over backward to take on your boss’ work when you’re already too busy.

Remember that your manager is only human. They don’t have superpowers. Like you, your manager has strengths, weaknesses, good and bad personality traits, and personal goals.

They want to have a nice working relationship with everyone and help you (and them) succeed.