The boss can use a bit of feedback too

The art of managing your boss can have benefits for both of you, and the business, says ANGELA McCARTHY.


Do you sometimes feel frustrated at work because you have a great idea, want to make improvements or see something going wrong - yet feel unsure how to bring this up with your team leader or manager?

You need to develop the art of managing your boss - or in the jargon, "leading up."

Leading up creates improved communication and feedback within an organisation, and encourages staff to be motivated about their work, but it requires a bit of ego-free give and take on both sides.

"People who feel valued and are not carrying baggage from their job are free to be more creative and enjoy what they do with confidence," says Una Ryan, director of management consultancy Una Ryan & Associates.

The art of managing your boss - or upward leadership - is a critical yet relatively unexplored area of leadership, says Michael Useem, American author of the recently published book Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win.

Useem, management professor and director of Wharton Centre for Leadership and Change Management at Pennsylvania University, describes upward leadership as supporting and helping senior managers in a way that benefits everyone without undermining authority or seizing power.

Useem's book contains a range of high-profile examples about how upward leadership did, or could have, made a difference to outcomes, including the tragic collision of the nuclear submarine USS Greenville and a Japanese fishing boat early last year.

Even the Bible gets a mention. Useem points out that Moses, Abraham and Saul all led up by interceding with the ultimate authority.

Ryan says effective upward leadership requires you to understand yourself and be clear about your role in your organisation and what you have to contribute.

Ryan, who designed and delivers the course Developing Influencing Skills for the New Zealand Institute of Management, sees it as a pro-active approach that can make huge differences to people's sense of purpose in the workplace.

Managing up requires the flexibility of adapting to all situations by consciously blending your behaviour and taking charge of yourself in a different way, says Ryan.

"It involves asking: What does that person need most from you?" she says.

"If you are going to successfully manage them, what is it about them that you need to understand?

"To do this you need to develop knowledge of people's behavioural styles and modes of interaction.

"We all adapt our styles. We need to be aware of what style to emphasise depending on the situation."

Manukau Institute of Technology business school senior lecturer Sandy Millar also sees adaptation of working style as playing a large part in leading up successfully.

"Understand your boss' working style and adjust your style to suit," she says. "If your boss is a listener, don't hand over a huge written report, but discuss your findings first, then follow that up with a memo or report."

Millar gives the example of one senior manager who didn't want lots of information. Staff who recognised this would go to her with plans or solutions, then she'd offer a yes or no.

"That worked for her style," says Millar. "It is about knowing how to get the best out of a relationship.

Another key to leading up is changing your mindset and seeing your relationship as a two-way process, rather than taking the more traditional top-down view.

"Leading up or managing your boss takes effort and energy but reaps dividends," says Millar.

However, she warns, it takes time in any company to "develop a culture of upward as well as downward freedom of ideas."

Carter Holt Harvey human resources manager Kevin Gaunt, who is a keen advocate of leading up, says it involves staff providing adequate and accurate feedback to the boss.

This happens only if the organisation's culture positively supports the concept, using systems such as ongoing coaching and performance reviews.

"I've seen the positive results of upward leadership at the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, and more recently at CHH, where monthly performance reviews and a strong commitment to building coaching skills are part of the organisation's culture," he says.

Gaunt says it does take time for staff to get used to giving feedback and he recommends organisations foster it through regular performance feedback sessions between manager and employee.

The two main factors that tend to stop people leading up are lack of confidence and fear of speaking up, says Gaunt.

But these could be overcome through good coaching, a critical talent in an organisation.

"The boss needs to be a skilled coach providing support and encouragement to their people to gain the feedback they need. They need to role-model that feedback is not only okay, it is welcomed."

The 360-degree feedback process, where comment flows in all directions, encourages staff to recognise that their bosses need constructive feedback, says David Parmenter, managing director of performance consultancy Waymark Solutions.

This process involves obtaining feedback through a variety of sources, including managers, staff, third-party stakeholders and peers.

But the onus is on staff to provide constructive thoughts, not merely complaints, says Parmenter.

By helping your manager you're helping yourself, he says.

"You want to be part of a successful team. Upward leadership helps that success."

But how do employees lead up when struggling to deal with a boss they consider unfair, dictatorial or unhelpful?

Ryan's response is the employee should first take a close look at their attitude towards the boss. Playing the victim - saying "what's the point, nothing will change", avoids personal responsibility, she says.

"If you are upset, you need to have the courage to speak the unspoken," she says. "How you do it is the key. Try the old technique of 'I felt ... when you ... because' to address issues with your manager. If all else fails, you can leave.

"People often don't think they have a choice, particularly when they consider their position in relation to their manager, but they do," she says. But first consider your attitude. Are you judging your leader's every move? Are you waiting for your boss to trip up? Are you being too small-minded? What would happen if you were less rigid and more objective?

"Both parties have to take responsibility," says Ryan. "Relationships are like bank accounts - you will either be in overdraft or in credit."

Parmenter feels praise of the boss is often not forthcoming in New Zealand because Kiwis are reluctant to give or receive it.

"There is an assumption that management will know they've done a good job," he says.

Leading up involves being able to thank and praise your boss where appropriate, says Parmenter, who feels there is "an under-investment in up-skilling team leaders into managers here."

He says: "It is not uncommon for someone who has never managed anything to be promoted to a big department and budget with just a three-day course in management behind them."

But if those people have been upward managing, they will have been developing good leadership skills.

How to lead up

* Develop leading-up skills by observing the reactions of people, such as politicians, in different situations and environments, says Una Ryan.

* Observe, then mimic, the behaviours of successful managers and leaders at work.

* Think about your boss and your own strengths, weaknesses and work style. Then develop a compatible working relationship, advises Sandy Millar.

* Practise saying what you need to say, suggests Ryan. If you're wanting time with your manager, be clear about what you are asking.

* Say, assertively: "I need 10 minutes of your time" rather than the timid "could you possibly find ... ?"

* Remember your boss is not a mind-reader. If you need something or need to say something, lead the charge. Don't sit and become resentful toward them, says Ryan.

* Share knowledge, suggests David Parmenter, such as helping your colleagues or bosses to up-skill.

* Don't let your manager be a dinosaur - that doesn't help you.