The secret your manager is too afraid to tell you
Lorraine K. Lee
Corporate Keynote Speaker & Trainer | LinkedIn Learning, Stanford CSP Instructor | Ex-Founding Editor at LinkedIn, Prezi | Author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career (Wiley 2025)
Can you believe it’s almost November?! It’s been a busy few weeks speaking, finishing my book , and partnering with some awesome companies.
In line with those partnerships, I’m excited that Career Bites will feature some guest writers over the next few weeks to share their wealth of knowledge with you. I believe it’s always beneficial to hear from different voices, and I’ve curated an amazing list of experts for you.
This week, I’m featuring important lessons from Dave Kline, who helps managers elevate their leadership skills and create high-performing teams. Check it out below!
Here’s a secret your manager is too afraid to tell you:
They want you to manage them.
But how?
Here are 7 simple tips to get started.
1. Invert Your Check-ins
If you’re waiting for your manager to schedule 1:1s and lay out their preferred format, you might be waiting a while.
Frame the meeting as yours. You ensure they’re informed. You take ownership for optimizing your time together.
Managers fill the space you leave empty. So don’t.
2. Bad News Yesterday. Good News Tomorrow.
Irrespective of the archetype, no manager wants to get caught off guard.
Your target: No surprises.
3. POST Up
Leaders want solutions, not problems. But the solutions are not always obvious. And some of us get frozen and choose the worst path: silence (see above).
If the consequences of being wrong are big or the steps to buy down risk are cheap, take one step back to suggestion. The more you bring the right solution, the more you’ll be trusted.
4. Clarity Is Created. Not Given.
Nine times out of ten, your manager doesn’t have the answer you crave. Asking them to draw you a map isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Look for analogies in the world. Find a close proxy and then ask, “Why couldn’t this work here?” Now you have something to work from.
Look for small experiments. When there’s no clear answer, figure out a small step to produce real data. Use that to gain clarity.
But when in doubt, if you lack clarity, make it your problem to solve, not theirs.
5. Market Your Management Growth
The Spotlight Effect is real. No one is looking at you nearly as much as you think. So if you want them to notice your growth, you need a marketing plan.
Steal from Zig Ziglar. The marketing genius said, “Tell them what you’re going to do. Tell them while you’re doing it. Tell them you did it.”
When you get feedback from them, adopt his model. Even modest improvements will be noticed favorably because you’ve connected the dots for them along the way.
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6. Be a Filter, Not a Funnel
Don’t pass every issue up the chain. Filter out the noise and escalate only what truly matters. This will show your judgment as valuable.
One simple way to think about it is headlines, punchlines, and nothing in between.
If you need help synthesizing the state of your team, we’ve got you.
7. Yes Is Inevitable. No Is Invaluable.
Don’t be afraid to disagree when necessary.
Feedback goes both ways. Your manager is imperfect too. And that includes mind-reading. Tell them how they can get more from you.
Help them avoid mistakes. Present a well-thought-out counterpoint to earn you respect and show you’re critical thinking. And that you care about their success as much as your own
***
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1 周A Master-Class in “managing your manager” aka “managing up”?? A couple of gems ?? here that I learned the hard way over the years: ??Invert your check ins - own and drive your 1:1 time ??No Surprises - good or bad. I once caught a bluebird deal later in a cycle and didn’t bother to forecast it. Thinking it would be high-fives all around. Only to hear we’d lost confidence from some key leaders who felt we didn’t have operational rigor or clear communication methods. ??Bring Solutions not problems - managers generally don’t know the on-the-ground details as well as you do. Pointing out a problem is the easy bit. This POST approach will serve you well throughout your career. ??Drive for Clarity - as Brené Brown says “Clear is Kind” and conversely “Unclear is Unkind” Subscribe to Career Bites for more wonderful insights like this by clicking the subscribe button in the post
Leader in Business Transformation, Process Improvement and Cultural Intelligence | Board Advisory Member | MAICD | MBA
1 周So good, I will share this article with my team members so that I don't need them to figure out these secrets. :-)
Training managers on the playbook for leading high-performance teams. Entrepreneur | Writer | Advisor | Speaker | Coach | Community of 200K+ leaders.
1 周Thank you so much for sharing your community with me Lorraine. Hopeful this playbook is helpful to anyone trying to manage up for effectively. Small adjustments can make a big difference.
Experienced Executive Assistant
1 周Wow, all of your content today feels like it’s been written for me ???? These tips are extremely detailed and helpful. I’ll be sure to try implementing these asap haha