Managing Up!
Are you in a sticky position? Are you defending your Team while trying to gain the confidence of your Leader?
You may be feeling as if you are caught in the middle between competing needs of your Team and demands of your Leader. Mid-level Managers are often in a dual position of leadership. They are designated leaders of their Team and Direct Reports and informal leaders with other managers, even senior leaders. They might serve on Health and Safety Committees, Social Event Commitees, or Project Managers with cross-functional Team Members. Many routine situations for mid-level managers require compromise and negotation skills.
Communication is key to eliminating misunderstandings and gaps in information to get what you need to succeed. Transparency in decision making, asking open-ended questions, and listening for complete understanding are skills and practices that build trust and strong working relationships not dictated by status, position or ego.
May sound simple, but not easy to do, consistently.
Participants in our Sage Conversations for Leaders and Teams Program learn and practice all of these skills and emerge from the program with tools and confidence. For example, participant ‘D.P.’ had the trust of his Team, but he needed to gain the trust of his fellow Managers and Senior Leaders. He took what he was learning from the program along with the support of other participants to make changes that got him the results he wanted.
He made sure he knew what the senior leaders expected of him in this new role, by asking questions, testing theories and seeking a shared understanding of success. He also was the first to acknowledge if a task was undone or a deadline unlikely to be met. He did not avoid any conversation with other Department Leaders and Senior Leaders making sure he understood their requirements AND they understood his.
“I came to trust myself and accept that I truly belonged in the role. I do not need to know everything; I have time to learn.”
Building good relationships with Department Heads and Senior Leaders is the key to paving a pathway for your Team’s success and your own in the long term. Maintaining a positive mindset and excellent communication skills are the essential (aka soft) skills for success. All leaders, at every level, benefit from practicing conversational essentials and enhancing emotional intelligence.
If you feel ‘caught in the middle’ or unsure how to make your case with your Leader, the ‘Sage Conversations for Leaders’ program is specifically designed to increase your confidence by growing a positive mindset and use the conversational essential tools to ‘manage up’ with ease.
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