"I’m Afraid To 'Like' Your LinkedIn Posts Because My Boss Might See"

Last summer I spoke at a fundraising conference about self-care and psychological safety. All businesses struggle with these, more pointedly since 2020. Nonprofits have their own pain points with this, especially with our sector’s managers.?Many of them came up through a specific practice before ascending to the top of a particular organizational hierarchy — e.g., a good fundraiser who is put in charge of a fundraising team. One task (fundraising) is about the skill of raising revenue, while the other task (management) is about people.

In the 1970s,?hierarchiologist ?Laurence Peter jokingly coined this phenomenon as the “Peter Principle ,” but it is indeed very real. (If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, it describes most of the content in?Dilbert?comics.) This isn’t unique to the social impact sector, but we nonprofiteers see it often. One reason is because, unlike many of our corporate counterparts, financial and training resources are rarely made available to help rising managers learn the people-oriented parts of the job.

Instead, those individuals get promoted, and everyone suffers.

As I prepared for the conference, I spent weeks talking with nonprofit peers about issues they face. I wanted to hear it from the mouths of those living the challenges in real-time. One conversation nearly broke my heart. “Martin” told me he reads all my articles and LinkedIn posts about organizational behavior. I thought he was being nice, but then he referenced two or three recent bits of my content. I was flattered, but surprised. Martin never interacts with the content — no comments, no likes, no shares — but then he explained why:

I’m afraid to?'like'?your LinkedIn posts because my boss might see.

I learned Martin’s boss was recently promoted to a role for which they were unqualified. Martin’s former manager unexpectedly quit, and they thrust this other person into the top position with almost no training or preparation. This individual got promoted, and now everyone is suffering.

Sometimes there’s nothing we can do about those managers. If their bosses don’t see the issues — or even if they see the issues and choose not to address them — we throw up our hands in frustration. But I also know far too many people who simply let these experiences go unchecked. They’re quick to complain, but when it comes to being part of the solution, they’d sooner take a back seat. And I know what you’re thinking because I used to think it too:

It’s not my responsibility to manage my manager.

Here’s the thing. With the exception of very few bosses, I don’t believe anyone wakes up in the morning and thinks, “How can I make my employees’ lives miserable today?”?Instead, I believe most managers wake up with a deep desire to help people and remove hurdles. But if they haven’t had the training or overlapping time with their predecessors to build those management skills, this can be difficult — if not impossible.

This is where you come in. Because sometimes the onus?is on you.?It may not be a bullet point on your job description, but “managing up” is a hugely powerful, necessary task.

When I had those unsavory experiences with bosses earlier in my career, I would cross my arms, grumble, and keep my mouth shut. Looking back, I realize this was a mistake, and guru of teams Claire Lew ?helps explain why, suggesting two significant reasons why workers don’t speak up in such instances: fear and futility. On the latter, she says even if employees “were to say something, nothing would change. They don’t think their opinion or idea will have an effect on the outcome.”

So what should you do with those unqualified (or under-qualified) managers? Lew suggests a simple opportunity:?go first . Our bosses are supposed to set examples and show?us?the way. But when they don’t — whether by choice or otherwise — we have a right (and a responsibility) to go first?ourselves. When I think back on all the times when I should have said something but didn’t, it makes me sad, because I realize my silence likely caused stress and discomfort for all the colleagues who came after me.

Two of the finest management minds in the business, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, Ph.D. talk about?going first?in their book,?The Leadership Challenge.?In it, they suggest, “You go first by setting the example through daily actions that demonstrate you are deeply committed to your beliefs.” Setting this example can be as simple as talking with a boss about a behavior they practice that causes direct (or indirect) harm to employees. These could be things like cutting people off while they speak or sending emails into the wee hours of the night.

This is difficult and sometimes goes against every logical fiber of your being. But how does the saying go? Evil triumphs when good people do nothing? Especially in this age of great organizational reshuffling, many of us find ourselves in places where we are?deeply committed?to the work, as Kouzes and Posner suggest — places where we want to stay and have an impact, irrespective of our bosses. This is the good work. It’s hard work, but good work.

And in this work, part of your charge is to make sure the people in charge hear from you.

#management #leadership #work #nonprofit