What nobody tells you
- Your manager is being managed too, by someone else, with their own anxieties and deadlines — most of their behavior is downstream of that, not about you.
- Bringing solutions instead of only problems is the single fastest way to earn autonomy.
- Managers remember who made their life easier during a crunch far more than who did flawless work in calm times.
The basics
- Managing up isn't flattery — it's proactively giving your manager what they need to trust and advocate for you: visibility, predictability, and low surprise.
- Every manager has a preferred communication mode (written summaries, quick verbal check-ins, dashboards) — figure out theirs, not yours.
- Surprises are the enemy. A manager who's blindsided in a meeting loses trust fast, even if the underlying issue is minor.
The framework
No Surprises, Fewer Decisions
The two things that make a manager's life easier — and make you more valuable — are keeping them informed before others do, and reducing the number of small decisions they have to make about your work.
- 01
Tell them bad news before they hear it from someone else.
- 02
Bring a recommendation, not just a question, whenever possible.
- 03
Confirm priorities explicitly rather than guessing what matters most.
The playbook
The conversation — what to actually say
Learning their style
“How do you like to get updates from me — a quick weekly note, or should I flag things only when they're off track?”
Delivering bad news early
“Heads up before this comes up elsewhere: we're going to miss Friday's deadline by two days. Here's why, and here's the plan to close the gap.”
Asking for feedback proactively
“Is there anything I could be doing differently that would make things easier for you?”
The mistakes — what people get wrong
- Confusing managing up with flattery or telling your manager only what they want to hear.
- Letting your manager find out about a problem from someone else first.
- Assuming your manager knows what you're working on without ever summarizing it for them.
- Over-managing up to the point it reads as political rather than genuinely useful.
Ask yourself
- Does my manager ever get surprised by my work in a meeting with others present?
- Am I bringing solutions, or just handing over problems?
- Do I actually know what my manager's own boss is pressuring them about right now?
Go deeper
- Book
Managing Up — Rosanne Badowski
Practical tactics from someone who did it at the executive level.
- Practice
The weekly one-paragraph update
Forces you to synthesize your work into something forwardable.
- Exercise
Map your manager's pressures
List what their boss likely asks them about — align your updates to that.
General educational information, not legal, tax, medical, or financial advice. Rules vary by country and change over time — verify with a qualified professional before acting.