Manage Upward: How to Influence Those Above You in the Org Chart

A lot of leadership blogs all talk about the same thing: How do you motivate your staff? How do you get them to buy into your vision? How do you make them do what you want them to do? But how do you influence those people who are above you in the organizational chart? How do you manage upward?

It’s the same thing in both directions: What you’re doing down the chart is the same thing you do up the chart.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Most organizations work from quarter to quarter. If they’re doing well, you’re going to have to report on your performance and results every 30 or 60 days, so it’s always good if you can communicate upwards.

And if you can find a champion in the organization to support your work, that’s even better. They don’t even have to be your direct supervisor; they could just have some power within the company. But get someone who will be your supporter and cheerleader.

If you’re like most managers, you’re familiar with One-Minute Manager, but are you familiar with the book, The 59-Second Employee? The secret of that book is how to manage upward and get your managers to do the things you want them to do. The key there is to communicate what you want and to delegate upwards. When you want something, ask your manager if they can help you get it.

The book is a response to formulaic management fads, especially those that preach minimal manager-employee interactions, like The One-Minute Manager. It shifts the focus from the manager to the associate, and provides a toolkit for the associate to proactively manage their jobs, their relationships with their supervisors, and their overall success, which helps ensure they get the attention and resources they need.

And while you may be a manager, there’s a very good chance that you have managers yourself, although they may be directors, VPs, or Chiefs.

So here’s how you do it, for example:

Two people, Alexis and Gene. Gene asks Alexis to create a new ad campaign graphic. Rather than waiting for Gene to catch her doing something right — something The One-Minute Manager espouses — Alexis uses the system proactively.

When she finishes the ad campaign graphic, she immediately sends a short email (a 59-second email) to Gene that defines the success criteria and reminds Gene of the desired results he asked for. It says, “Gene, the new graphic for the Q4 campaign is live. Since the goal was to increase click-throughs by 15%, I wanted to let you know that the initial results show we’ve already hit 17%.”

By being this specific and immediate, Alex has done two things in less than a minute: She showed the goal was achieved (17% instead of 15%), and she’s made it possible for Gene to ignore the moment of success.”

And if he’s a decent manager, Gene only needs 59 seconds to give a quick reply: “Good job, Alexis. Keep using that approach.”

This immediate feedback confirms that Alex needs to continue his successful behavior, and he got it because he forced the issue by using a clear, results-oriented communication style that Gene understood.

This is how you should manage upward with your managers. Don’t wait for them to notice how well you’ve done. Don’t make them ask you for the results you wanted; give them to them first. Communicate upwards, tell them that you’ve been successful, and make them take notice of you.

I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now, I help companies turn around their own business, including pivoting within their industry. If you would like more information, please visit my website and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Photo credit: Renateko (Pixabay, Creative Commons 0)