Issue: February 2011
The Art (and Business) of Managing Up
By Quint Studer
Are you looking for a highly effective way to gain support for meeting established goals, create more autonomy within your organization, save time, and better control your personal destiny? Learn the fine art of managing up. Accentuating the positive is more than fodder for classic song lyrics and self-help books; it's brilliant business advice. Managing up is, in essence, positioning people well. It sounds quite simple and in theory it is: just work to align staff instead of dividing them.
But managing up is actually a skill of some delicacy. It's not always our first impulse. But it's a skill that managers should focus on and hone until it becomes second nature. When you don't manage up, you inadvertently contribute to the we/they culture. As in: I fought hard to get you that raise, but the Board said we just don't have the budget for it. See? We = executive staff. They = board/volunteer leadership. Perhaps you've said something similar, managing down, not deliberately but subconsciously. This is just one example of what happens when you manage down by default. But it serves to illustrate why you must make a conscious effort to manage up whenever possible. There are three major ways to do so.
Manage Up Your Boss
Managing up your boss positions the organization well, aligns desired behaviors, helps senior leaders be more visible, and creates an opportunity for praise. Don't think your boss is getting overwhelmed with praise. Bosses hear what's wrong all the time. Very rarely do they hear what's right.
Write your boss (or president of your board) a thank you note. Be specific about what you appreciate, because it will align her behavior to your own and help you control your own destiny. For example, if you say, "Debbie, I really appreciate the fact that you always make time for me because I find this to be so important," what do you think will happen the next time you see Debbie? She will make time for you.
Give your boss (or association president) information that helps him connect with staff in a sincere way. Perhaps it's passing along information about a staff member's sister-in-law who has died, giving him the opportunity to offer the bereaved staff member his condolences.
Manage Up Your Staff
Managing up employees is more than a nice thing to do. It's a practical tool for reinforcing specific behaviors. Recognized behavior gets repeated. When all managers start managing up their direct reports on a regular basis, pretty soon you have a whole company full of people making it a point to replicate the behavior that got them recognized. The impact of that can be enormous. Here's how: Single out high performers for public praise. Corner your exemplary employee when he's with a group of his peers to say thank you. Be specific, not general. Don't just say, "Bob, you're doing a great job." Say, "Bob, you did a great job on that marketing report for our next annual convention. Thanks for staying at the office so late last night to finish it up." This reinforces Bob's thoroughness and work ethic, as well as lets other staff in the vicinity know what kinds of behaviors get praised.
Ask your board to recognize the high performer. You might send an e-mail to the association's chief elected officer that says, "Mary Smith did an outstanding job on the marketing report. She knew we were in a crunch, so she stayed until 11:00 p.m. to finish it. If you don't mind, please drop her a note to say thanks . . . it would mean a lot coming from you.
Manage Up Your Organization
People need to feel good about the organization they work for, beyond believing in its mission and vision. No one can achieve excellence (which means having a sense of purpose, doing worthwhile work, and making a difference) if they're in an environment where people denigrate the association, its members and leaders, or its purpose. Look for every possible opportunity to manage up your organization.
Never down talk other departments. This is another manifestation of we/they syndrome. If you're in marketing, don't make disparaging remarks, even jokingly, about those short-sighted bean counters in accounting. Remember, you must seek to create alignment, not division.
Promote your brand to members, family, and friends. That means walking the walk, not just talking the talk. If you make Fords for a living, you don't drive a Chevrolet; it sends an unfavorable message.
There are plenty of opportunities to manage up. Do it when things are going well, when you have good news to share, or when you need direction on how to achieve specific goals. When you look for ways to focus on the positive, you will find them, and they will ripple outward, creating more opportunities. Ultimately, you'll find that managing up makes you a better leader, your staff better employees, and your organization a better organization. It's a win for everybody.
Quint Studer, head of the Studer Group®, is the author of Hardwiring Excellence: Purpose, Worthwhile Work, Making a Difference; 101 Answers to Questions Leaders Ask; Straight A Leadership: Alignment, Action, Accountability, Results That Last; and Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top and Straight A Leadership: Alignment, Action, Accountability. He can be reached through his website at www.studergroup.com.