The Fine Line Between Managing Up and Kissing Up

You know how we always talk about the importance of good leadership? Well, today I want to dive into something that's been on my mind lately – managing up, and how it can go terribly wrong if we're not careful.

Here's the thing: even executives have to manage up. It's not just something for entry-level employees to worry about. Managing up is essentially about building positive relationships with your manager to achieve shared goals. In simple terms? It's managing your manager (and sometimes training them on how to manage you).

But here's where things can get messy.

When Managing Up Turns Toxic

There's a darker side to this whole concept that I've witnessed far too often in my years working with businesses. Some leaders stroke their bosses' egos while treating their direct reports poorly, creating this illusion that they're influential leaders. As Fortune's Lila MacLellan puts it, "This toxic approach to managing isn't just unethical, it's dangerous."

I've seen this play out in real-time with some of the businesses I've worked with. It's particularly common at the intermediate level of organizations, and the ramifications are devastating. When trust breaks down between a manager and their team members, those employees stop sharing their ideas for innovation or change. The whole enterprise suffers.

What's really troubling is that the leaders receiving all this praise are often completely in the dark about what's happening at the bottom of the corporate food chain. They're allowing cultural rot to fester until it becomes a full-blown crisis, resulting in self-motivated behavior, manipulation, paranoia, and nihilism at lower levels.

The Healthy Way Forward

So what does healthy upward management look like? It starts with strong bilateral communication and alignment on success metrics. Senior leaders need to make themselves available to everyone within the firm hierarchy – not just their direct reports. They need to check in with middle managers' direct reports to understand what's really happening down the chain.

Michael Parke, an assistant management professor at The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, makes an excellent point: leaders on the dark side of managing up are pretty easy to spot. They prioritize managing their reputation outside their teams and often credit themselves – and themselves alone – for their teams' wins.

Sound familiar? I thought it might.

Making Everyone's Job Easier

Here's what I've learned from working with successful leaders: those who are effective at upward management match their approach to sharing information with their bosses' preferences. They deliver information before it's even requested. Think weekly status reports, shared documents that make workflow visible and organized – the goal is always to make everyone's job easier by keeping the boss's needs in mind.

In my own business, I've found that transparency and proactive communication create the foundation for healthy relationships at every level. When we're all working toward the same goals with clear communication, everyone wins.

The next time you're thinking about how to manage up, ask yourself: Am I doing this to genuinely help achieve our shared goals, or am I just trying to look good? The answer might surprise you.

Until Next Time,