Do You Really Want to Manage Up? Start here!
Ken Carlson
Experienced Executive Coach and Leadership Trainer with a knack for working with Geeks; Specializing in Engineering, Science, Math, and Medical.
I coach leaders at some of the biggest and most well-known companies in the world. I’ve coached over 1000 leaders in over 30 countries.
I’ve coached people at all levels from IC to CEO to Entrepreneur to Professor to neighbor to Barista.
With all of these coachees from all these different backgrounds—it seems where almost everyone gets stuck is in managing upwards.
It’s nearly every day that I am talking to a client who simply wants to know:
I have one question for them: “Do you know what keeps your boss up at night?”
“No.”
“What do you talk about when you meet with him or her?“
“I give them an update on all that I am doing and tell them about the team.”
“Do you ever find out what is happening for them with their leadership, what challenges they are facing, who they trust, and what motivates them?”
“Ummm, no, should I?”
The same truth about leadership is true no matter what direction we are going.
“Leadership is influence, nothing more nothing less.” ~John Maxwell
Whether we are leading our team members who report to us or we are leading the CEO of our company who is 5 levels above us on the org chart, we are leaders.
Sometimes we forget that our bosses are people and this is where we go all wrong. Start by humanizing them. Find out what keeps them up at night. Listen to them. I mean really listen. Don’t try to solve a problem. Just listen. To completion.
Then leave. Trust that they believe you heard them because you paid such marvelous attention and didn’t interrupt and really sought to understand what it was that they are going through.
This will transform your leadership. I have client after client reporting to me that when they do this simple activity of getting in their bosses world, everything about the relationship changes.
Caveat: your care and concern for them must be authentic. Authentic care—you can’t fake to care about what matters to them and then hope to have further influence with them.
Truth is that this level of care inspires people and increases their engagement in return.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes.
______________________________________________________________
Past Articles: Neurodiverse Leadership Resource Library
Want more resources on neurodivergent leadership? We are finding and creating resources for you. Watch this section expand every week.
领英推荐
_______________________________________________________________
Staying In Touch
What leadership challenges are you facing??We’d love to hear from you - feel free to set up a time to chat here.
Make sure you never miss an issue! Click the "subscribe" button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. For more articles and insights, connect with me here.