Successful leaders know how to manage others. But what are the keys to managing up? What happens to those who don’t learn how to manage their boss … or board … or investors?
If you want to effectively interact with your boss, you must be proactive. You need to step outside yourself and ask:
What drives my boss?
How does she think?
What is her style of processing information?
Then, adapt your style to fit your audience.
Like it or not, if you don’t know what makes your boss tick, and if you don’t figure out how to influence him or her, you’re less likely to be successful. No matter how brilliant you are or how stellar your track record has been. Managing your boss is about tailoring your interactions to their needs, just as you would with a client.
Keys to Managing Up
Managing your boss means understanding his or her style, not relying on what works for you.
Remember the effectiveness of any communication is not measured by how clear or effective you think you were. Rather, it is measured by how well the other person understood you and, more importantly, did they change their behavior as a result?
