You Need to Manage Your Boss

Often when someone is telling me about the problems they have with their boss, I tell them that they need to manage up.

The usual response is “What is managing up?”

I explain that we are all managers, whether we have the official title or not. Often I get a puzzled look, followed by the question. “What do you mean we are all managers? I have no one reporting to me.”

Unless you run your own show, you have a boss and believe it or not, he needs to be managed. As managers, we think we know a lot, but truth be told we really don’t. We depend on everyone who works for us. We tell our employees how things work, what should be done, how to do things, when to do things, why we have to do things, etc.

When we start to think we know everything, it is time for us to be managed. We need you to tell us we a re wrong. It is really okay to tell your boss that you “think” he is wrong. I emphasize think because you never want to tell your boss he is wrong. Most bosses aren’t mature enough to handle brutal honesty. It hurts their finely tuned ego.

What if your boss tells you to do something that you know is wrong? Do you do it?

No.

You have a responsibility to tell your boss that you feel what he is asking you to do is wrong. You will get one of two responses, both of which depend on the maturity and emotional intelligence of your boss.

A good boss will thank you for sharing your concerns whether they agree or disagree with you. He may still ask you to do it; however, it should not be something unethical or something that forces you to compromise your values. You have to decide whether you feel you can do it. If not, you have to be tough and even risk your job. Get HR involved if you need to. Bosses hate when HR gets involved.

A bad boss will invalidate your concerns and probably try to insult your intelligence. He will tell you to do it or else… It may seem counter-intuitive, but your response should be the same for the good boss or the bad boss.

As a boss, I have been wrong many times. I continue to make mistakes. I am human. If you work for someone who feels he is never wrong, you have a boss that is challenging, if not impossible to manage up. That does not give you the excuse not to do it. You just have to work harder.

Tomorrow I will talk about some specific things that you can do.