Managing Up: Leading With Purpose

The impacts of effective leadership branch far beyond the capabilities of a leader. In some cases, leadership requires guidance from the bottom up. Your leader will not have all the answers or in some cases be able to reach the desired outcome on their own. When this is the case, subordinates can take initiative to equip their leader with the necessary tools and information to be successful.

This is called “managing up”, and this method applies to leadership in all its forms. In essence, you end up managing your leader to be better for the needs of the team or to influence the desired outcome. This is by no means “changing” or “fixing” your leader, it is simply stepping up to give them and the team the support they need. Additionally, you and your leader are both striving to be better and advance your careers. 

The incentive for managing up for the individual is so that you (being in a lower-ranked position) can demonstrate your qualities as a leader and develop a dynamic that utilizes each of your strengths. Sometimes all it takes is a change in your attitude or speaking with the leader directly to give intel on a situation for them to be effective in their task. Eventually, showing that you are a capable and effective leader can lead to opportunities for advancement. 

This concept can be difficult to grasp and effectively implementing it can seem intimidating but there are some simple characteristics you can implement:

Open To Learning

Often a leader will have several direct reports which take a lot of their time, to begin with. Having someone who isn’t coachable will make this responsibility even harder. To stand out, if you are in each meeting asking questions, and applying feedback, they will allocate more time and energy to you. Think of this as an investing scenario, if you are showing that you’re willing to grow, they will give you the tools necessary to do so. 

Proactive Not Reactive

You can get ahead of situations by actively communicating with your leader on what’s being done and what could be done better rather than waiting for them to ask. Subordinates should use their intuition and apply their efforts in a manner that will help their leader and the team as a whole. This takes some of the burdens off leaders and allows you to stick out from the majority in a way that demonstrates competency. 

Empathetic

A leader who knows their team and understands their needs can find ways to adapt their approach to the needs of the group. Vice versa, a subordinate who takes the time to know their leader, can build a supportive relationship between the two of them. Realize that there will be times when your leader needs a nudge in the right direction. Avoid rank clouding your view of what’s important, put yourself in their shoes, and get involved in problem-solving. At the end of the day, you’re all striving for the same goal. 

Feedback

Just as you receive feedback, don’t be afraid to provide your leader with feedback as well. Nobody’s perfect in their role, opportunities for growth and development are what construct a professional. This same concept applies to information, if a leader is taking on a situation where they may need guidance, subordinates can take initiative to provide it.

Advancement

Either or both of you may have aspirations to reach new levels in your careers, find out what they are. To manage up, you need to know what the goals and intentions of your leader are so you can guide them when applicable. They will look out for you in the same way and now the relationship is supportive of both of your needs. 

Conclusion

Managing up is an initiative that will serve anyone in an executive position or someone who wants to gain skills from their current organization while influencing outcomes. Doing this takes time, it requires you to be accountable for everything that goes on in the team. If you want to get the most out of your career, this is the kind of attitude and hunger you must possess. 

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Balancing People: Managing Work Relationships As A Leader

What happens inside an organization is a direct reflection of the opportunities and success attained on the outside. As a leader, your ability to build trusted connections among co-workers is pivotal. However, there is a balance that must be found in developing these connections. Leaders don’t want to cross the line into making a relationship too personal with subordinates or fellow executives. On the other hand, leaders also need to establish credibility and develop a line of communication that members of the organization know they can rely on. 

The importance of finding a balance between these factors of a working relationship is to avoid the risk of not being able to effectively delegate. If a leader has a connection too personal with team members, they won't feel comfortable giving them work or negative feedback. Additionally, a leader may not be willing to make hard decisions that will benefit the team overall if it risks the satisfaction of others.

On the other end, a leader who makes too little effort will lack cohesion between and within their team, weakening communication. Ultimately, leaders want to achieve a level where they can be friendly and open with others but not attach them to any area of their life outside the organization.

The first step to effectively implementing this approach as a leader is taking accountability for everything that goes on under your control. Not only does this keep you in a spot where you’re able to see things logically, but it also sets an example for the rest of the team. A leader who can communicate effectively and remain highly disciplined will be productive and inspire others. Maintaining discipline with an attitude of optimism and general kindness will construct a highly balanced leader whom people will feel comfortable receiving tasks and bringing questions. 

Maintaining emotional and analytical control over your decision-making is the foundation for having effective working relationships with others. This can translate into long-term satisfaction and success in the organization as you are proving to be an effective leader capable of managing yourself and others in a business setting.

Of course, being part of a team means you will be spending plenty of time with members, which may make it hard to keep some relationships strictly business. Yet, it is important to be able to do so to be able to handle anything the organization may face. 

Here’s what to consider:

Limit Sharing Personal Information

It’s great to talk with others and share what you’ve got going on, but there is a limit to how much you should let others in on. What that limit is remains up to you, you don’t want anyone to have the information they could later share with others which will alter your image of professionalism. Your team is not your emotional support group, any personal opinions about others within the organization must not be shared. 

This method works up and down the chain, all members of the team should strive to maintain a level of professionalism as a baseline. Additionally, tailoring communication to a level of what’s appropriate and necessary is a good start to finding this balance.

Remain Focused On Goals

At the end of the day, everyone is likely to form some level of bond within the workplace, and while these bonds are necessary, they can’t be distracting. Being part of a team means everyone is after a collective objective. To meet the objective, there needs to be cohesion but at a capacity necessary to reach an optimal outcome as a team. Getting too caught up in personal opinions can lead to the formation of out-groups. This divides the team and presents speed bumps to progress or even halts it. 

Instead, keep discussions positive when speaking about others, actively seek out opportunities to take action, and detach emotion from the process. 

Follow Your Directions

In a position of power, giving out tasks to others can get the best of a leader and cause them to sit back a little. One of the most defining characteristics a leader can have is humility, and occasionally taking action that you could easily ask others to do is necessary to gain respect. 

An example of this would be a store manager letting their employees go home early while they stay and clean up. This shows appreciation and actively demonstrates that the leader doesn’t see themselves as “above that”. Additionally, likely, the employees would voluntarily stay and help. Now the team is forming a meaningful work bond that will carry over to accepting tasks and helping each other further in the future.  

Find A Best Friend At Work

A peer at work is different from a direct report, they may work in a completely different department or report to someone else. So long as they are not under your leadership they become neutral. Studies show having a best friend at work is good for overall mental health. They take a layer of stress off and reduce feeling isolated at work which is beneficial for creativity.  

Now your best friend at work remains under the umbrella of a working relationship, not letting personal matters get involved. Additionally, you come to each other to share what’s going on with both of your jobs. They become a safe space, you bounce ideas off them and may even come to each other for advice or share frustrations. 

Conclusion

Investing in meaningful relationships with subordinates is a pillar of effective leadership, to attain this, mutual respect between the team must be established. By not getting caught up in rank, and personal opinions, and avoiding the formation of out-groups, the team can be effective. It’s important to know that there are no poor-performing teams, only poor-performing leaders. Be a leader that is selfless and open, the needs of the team always outweigh the wants of the leader.

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!

The Importance of Detachment: Business Essential

Imagine the feeling of walking away from a situation knowing you could’ve handled it better, the anxiousness and disappointment knowing there was more you could’ve done. Now imagine the sense of fulfillment knowing you did your best to handle a situation or conflict. Each scenario is on an entirely different end of the spectrum. Yet both results are born out of your ability to analyze what response a situation calls for.

Oftentimes when a negative result or situation presents itself, it is because the people involved are too emotionally invested. For this reason, a leader needs to be able to remove their emotions or feelings from the situation allowing them to detach and think critically. This concept can be confusing, of course, you want to be passionate about what you’re doing. Being overly invested however takes away from the ability to read a situation logically. For this reason, we must have the ability to detach and look at it from a neutral position. 

An overly attached leader for example will have a tendency to micromanage, possibly lash out, and want control of everything and everyone. On the other hand, a detached leader will be able to respond to situations calmly, with the most beneficial outcome for the team in mind. The same concept applies at every level of an organization. Teams must be clear and concise in their communication, knowing what the goal is while also operating in the present.

Detachment does not mean uninterested, in this context it means living in the now and seeing a situation for what it truly is. If you are too attached to something, the end goal may cloud the opportunity for valuable input. It’s very common to be attached to an outcome, especially considering how fast-paced a business environment is. However, to get ahead, you have to plant your feet where you are. It is best to designate time where you can put aside planning for what's to come and focus on what you have to do. 

Ultimately there can be long-term benefits and success to mastering the ability of detachment, this article shows how detachment from outcome can lead to stronger outcomes. 

Here are some areas to focus on while you do this: 

What Could Be Forgotten?

Sometimes focusing on the details of what’s to come or what could happen diverts attention away from what’s going on right now. This risks the proficiency of how something is done and wastes attention that should be spent doing it. 

If you find yourself not able to focus on what’s in front of you because you are too attached to the outcome, take the time to make a list of what needs to be done right now. This method is actively detaching, it will outline the consequences of being too emotionally invested.

Situational Context

Particularly in a scenario where a conflict can arise between you and someone else, the natural response is to match the emotions expressed by the other person, or even overpower them. However, this will not solve anything and just make communication more difficult with this person in the future. 

Instead, realize what’s going on with them, maybe they have a pressing situation they are not detached from. Here, it is useful to recognize their situation and remain calm, provide a rationale, and bring them back to a neutral headspace. Additionally, this will keep you level headed, prepared for further contingencies that could arise. 

Remain Open-Minded About The Outcome

Having a fixed idea of the ideal outcome will narrow down your view if things don’t go exactly as planned. This is when you become too attached to the outcome and anything different feels like a failure.

Now it’s, by all means, good to have a vision for what you want, but being fixated on it may make you fail to see the benefits that come with different outcomes. For this reason, detaching from perfectionism will allow you and your team to work in a supportive and flexible environment. 

Acknowledge Feedback Not Feelings

It is not unheard of to have to work with someone you don’t get along with or like, individuals can have differences that inhibit their ability to take feedback from each other. However, in a situation involving decision-making, a leader must detach from these feelings. 

Your personal view of someone can hinder their credibility in your eyes. When this happens, we tend to write off their opinions. This can lead to leaving great ideas or insight on the table and hurt the efficiency of task completion. Detaching is important here, it allows you to stay neutral and commit to serving the needs of the team.

Conclusion

The hardest thing anyone can do is manage their emotions at all times, yet it is one of the most useful skills anyone can have. Detaching is exactly that, keeping your emotions under control and remaining neutral while finding optimal outcomes for everyone involved. 

We work with successful companies to increase their net profits using exceptional custom software solutions, contact us here to see how we can help your business grow!