MANAGE UP, NOT JUST DOWN: THE CAREER SKILL NOBODY TEACHES US
Managing up is a crucial career lesson I have increasingly come to appreciate: doing good work is only half the job.
We spend years learning how to manage teams, meet deadlines, create presentations, hit targets and deal with clients. But very few of us are taught how to manage the relationship with the person who manages us.
The article in the image brought together several practical lessons around this idea — asking for a raise, managing a busy boss, dealing with difficult conversations and, importantly, knowing when to step back and reassess what we are actually spending our energy on.
For me, the biggest takeaway is simple:
Discover the 7 essential strategies to managing up and instantly accelerate your career growth.
1. Managing Up: Don’t Just Ask for a Raise, Build the Case for One.
One of the most interesting lessons is around salary negotiations. A common approach is:
“I have worked hard. I have delivered. I deserve a raise.” I don’t think that is a particularly strong business argument. A much stronger approach is to demonstrate what has changed because of your contribution. Did you increase revenue? Reduce costs? Bring in new clients? Improve a process? Take responsibility for something that previously required another person?
Solve a problem that was affecting the organisation? These are much more powerful conversations than simply talking about how busy you have been. The article also makes an interesting point about timing. A compensation conversation shouldn’t necessarily begin when you suddenly need more money.
It can begin months earlier by establishing what additional responsibility you intend to take on and then returning later with evidence that you actually delivered. That changes the conversation from: “Can I have a raise?”
to:
“We discussed the additional responsibility I would take on. Here is what I delivered. Let’s discuss how my compensation should reflect that.” That is a very different conversation.
2.Managing Up
I have always believed that managers are often treated as if they have unlimited time.
They don’t. A manager may have 20 meetings, 50 emails, multiple teams and several problems competing for attention. So when you get 10 minutes with your manager, don’t spend eight of them explaining the problem.
Come prepared with the problem, context and possible solution. Instead of: “We have a problem with the campaign.”
Try:
“The campaign is 18% below target because CPL has increased. I see two possible reasons. My recommendation is to shift 20% of the budget towards the better-performing segment. If you’re comfortable, I’ll implement it today.” That is managing up—real managing up.
You are not making your manager do the thinking for you. You are making it easier for them to make a decision.
3. Don’t Make Your Manager Decode You
One point from the article particularly resonated with me:
Make conversations easy to process.
If you need a decision, ask for a decision. If you need feedback, ask for feedback. If you need approval, ask for approval. And if you have a recommendation, state it. I have seen this happen countless times in professional environments. Someone sends a three-page email, six attachments and a long explanation.
The manager’s response? “So what do you need from me?” That is a communication failure. Effective managing up requires clear communication; a good professional doesn’t just provide information. They provide clarity.
4. Come With an Agenda
One of the best ways to manage a busy manager is surprisingly simple: Have an agenda. If you have 10 minutes, structure those 10 minutes.
For example:
1 minute: Context
3 minutes: Key issue
3 minutes: Options
2 minutes: Recommendation
1 minute: Decision required
Now your manager knows exactly why the meeting exists. This becomes even more important as organisations become flatter and managers become responsible for larger teams. The person who can communicate clearly in limited time becomes extremely valuable.
5. But What About the Overwhelmed Manager?
There is another side to this. Sometimes the problem isn’t the employee.
Sometimes the manager is simply overwhelmed, which is why managing up becomes crucial. In that situation, the solution isn’t to work harder at everything.
It is to ask a much more uncomfortable question: What actually deserves my attention when managing up? This is something I think many ambitious professionals struggle with. We confuse activity with progress.
- More meetings.
- More emails.
- More presentations.
- More WhatsApp messages.
- More projects.
- More late nights.
But being busy doesn’t automatically mean being productive. Sometimes the most valuable professional decision is deciding what not to do.
6. My Biggest Takeaway: Stop Measuring Effort. Measure Impact.
This is perhaps the lesson I would carry forward from the entire article. Organisations don’t ultimately reward effort.They reward outcomes. You may work 12 hours a day. Someone else may work eight.
If the second person consistently solves bigger problems, creates more value and communicates that value better, their contribution may be perceived very differently. That doesn’t mean effort is irrelevant. It means effort needs to translate into visible impact.
As professionals, when managing up we should constantly ask ourselves:
- What problem am I solving?
- What changed because I worked on it?
- Can I demonstrate that change?
- What additional responsibility am I ready to take?
- Am I making my manager’s job easier or harder?
- Am I spending my time on things that actually matter?
These questions are far more useful than simply asking:
“Am I working hard enough?”
The Career Skill We Don’t Talk About Enough
- We teach people how to manage teams.
- We teach people how to manage projects.
- We teach people how to manage clients.
But managing up deserves equal attention. It isn’t about flattering your boss. It isn’t about office politics.
And it certainly isn’t about constantly telling your manager what they want to hear.
For me, managing up means understanding how your manager works, respecting their limited time, presenting information clearly, anticipating questions, taking ownership and making it easier for them to make decisions.
And when the time comes to ask for something — whether it is a raise, a promotion, greater responsibility or simply more autonomy — you have already built the evidence for the conversation.
Don’t just work hard. Make your work understandable, measurable and valuable.
Because sometimes the difference between “I deserve more” and “Here is why my role has changed” is the difference between having a difficult career conversation and having a productive one.
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