WEST Wisdom Blog

Managing Up: Balance being a solid contributor and team player with self-advocacy and personal advancement

Posted by Jaime Luna on Apr 4, 2019 8:37:00 AM
Managing up is not about manipulation or capitulation. Rather it’s learning to influence with respect, and broaden your horizons to speculate about the pressures and demands which may be outside of your view. It’s about influencing diplomatically yet authentically. Being intentional about challenging a plan. How can you get what you need at the same time you’re focusing on what your manager needs? How can you effectively negotiate the relationship that has the most impact on your career, and still be yourself? How can you have power with your manager, being cooperative and expressive?

Scenarios such as these may sound familiar:

  • Your new manager was your peer yesterday. She would not have been your first choice. How do you accept the change to work effectively?
  • Your manager has picked someone else to work on an attractive project, when you think you have more appropriate skills. How do you respond?
  • Your manager has just given you a project list a mile long – which is different from the list last week. Since you don’t plan to work 100 hours a week, how can you be accommodating yet questioning?
  • It seems you are in the dark about the overall direction of the company, despite press releases and town hall style meetings. That understanding would be motivating for you. How do you seek more information?

Join WESTorg on 4/10 to go through experiential activities and develop skills to address these dilemmas. You need to remember that you report to your manager, but you’re in charge of your own career.  

Learn more about the co-presenters: 

Janet Britcher is President of Transformation Management LLC. She has many great executive coaching blog posts that you should checkout. 

Michèle Barnett Berg is Managing Director of Envisage Consulting. She has a nice section of her website dedicated to books she likes.


Click here to learn more about  the event and get registered 

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