By: Allison McCarthy, MBA | ammcarthy@barlowmccarthy.com
When we think about managing people our attention often defaults to those who report directly to us. What we don’t contemplate enough is how we manage the other key stakeholders that influence our success – operations leaders, credentialing managers, marketing colleagues, and so many others. Among the most important is our boss… and our boss’ boss… and others at the top of the organization.
Politics, mission, culture, and other internal dynamics aside, understanding the unique personalities and work styles of our direct supervisor is critical to performance and career success. What makes your leader tick? How do they make decisions? Do they focus on the details or just the big picture? Who do they report to and what does your boss need from you to manage that relationship?
Managing up is not about being the “star” employee or winning brownie points. It is building a working relationship that maximizes the time, energy, and effort required to get things done. It means changing perspectives from being a task-taker to being a proactive leader of your role and responsibilities. I’ve coached several frontline and middle managers who have defaulted to a “victim” position around their boss. They give away their power and, as a result, become professionally dejected and dissatisfied.
One of my favorite coaching resources has become “Managing Up” by Mary Abbajay. The author shares that being a strong “follower” is key to career success. In an early chapter, she provides a series of questions the reader can answer to assess their own situation under the categories of:
- Assess your boss
- Assess yourself
- Assess your willingness to man up
She then suggests identifying if your boss is an introvert or extrovert so you can adapt your communication and interaction approaches. From there, she offers specific chapters on work style personalities – the types of behaviors the boss tends to use when interacting with others at work – with descriptors such as:
- The Advancer – results-oriented, driven, decisive, ambitious and confident.
- The Energizer – people-focused, fast-paced, enthusiastic and idea explorers
- The Evaluator – objective, logical, methodical and quality-oriented
- The Harmonizer – team-oriented, collaborative, accommodating and conflict-averse
Ms. Abbajay offers strategies for managing the different types. And if you work for what she calls “Difficult Bosses,” such as micromanagers, ghosts, narcissists, workaholics, and several others – she provides the behaviors that these persons demonstrate and techniques for managing them.
I have scanned and shared many of the book chapters with clients – all expressing how helpful it was with several moving to purchase the book for themselves. If one of your professional development goals is to improve your ability to manage those in positions above you, this could be a great resource for you, too. And if you add some coaching support to the mix, by year-end you should feel a shift in this important work relationship.
More and more we are finding the quantifiable difference that can be seen from one on one coaching. Are you looking for a coach or thinking someone on your team could benefit? Please reach out at amccarthy@barlowmccarthy.com and we can connect to find a time to talk.