In most leadership or management classes, a great deal of emphasis is placed on managing people. The people in question are almost always your direct reports or those you directly supervise. However, very little attention is paid to how you collaborate with your peers, and even less emphasis is put on how to “manage up.”
Manage up? This may be a new concept for many people. But it’s one that can assist you dramatically in your daily life, and it can be key to your advancement. At the very least, it can enhance your working relationships and day-to-day interactions.
After decades of managing and supervising teams, I became aware of the importance of managing up. As a leader, I always viewed my role with direct reports as my priority. I failed to understand that while management of my team was important, understanding the dynamics of working with my colleagues and my supervisor was essential for my success.
Understanding your supervisor is an integral part of your ability to lead your team, execute projects and be successful in your school district. It requires you to adjust your perspective and gain a greater understanding of the needs, personality and political realities of your organization. This knowledge, along with your leadership skills, will enable you to not only understand why something is required of you, but also gives you insight into how your voice can influence decisions.
As an administrator, I admit that I often had tunnel vision. I viewed the directives and requests from my superintendent or supervisors in light of how they impacted me and my work. I would often be confused or even unhappy with an assignment, a policy or directive. My perspective was self-focused. I often failed to understand – or even to try to understand – the thoughts or issues that led to the decision. Instead of feeling like I was working with my leadership, I felt unheard or even misunderstood.
It seemed like the decisions made above me were done “to” me, not “with” me.
One day, after listening to my complaints, a mentor of mine pointed out what I was missing. He asked me if I ever placed myself in my supervisor’s position and tried to understand what was happening from their perspective, rather than mine. Did I know what political forces might be in play? Did I understand the impact and consequences of the decisions? If I was not included in the decision-making, why was I not part of the process? Did I understand the management or leadership style of my supervisor? And what was I doing to help my supervisor succeed?
For a moment during that conversation, I was stunned. As someone who tries to empower, communicate effectively and promote participation with my own teams, I was clueless about how to do this with my leadership. I expected them to support me and failed to see how I could support them. For years, while being a loyal employee, I failed to understand how that loyalty could be improved. I also saw a huge deficit in my own leadership.
While I always attempted to have positive and proactive relationships with my colleagues in other departments, in most cases, I was all about looking after my team and my needs. Understanding how our work collaboratively guided the district was an afterthought. I saw myself and my needs as paramount. In understanding how I failed to manage up with my supervisor, I also realized how little I had done to create successful partnerships and collaborations with my leadership peers.
So often in education, we feel isolated and misunderstood. Between the driver shortage, increased regulations, changes in personnel and equipment, and new challenges with student management and increased safety concerns, NAPT members like you can feel overwhelmed. There’s only so much time in the day, and that time is dedicated to doing the job before you. Leadership often demands that you work from the wee hours of the morning into the evening to ensure that students are being served. You might be so busy doing your job that you don’t have time to think about managing up.
Feeling unheard, unappreciated and overworked is common. Humans have a need to feel their voices are heard. When we’re not part of decision-making, we feel left out and misunderstood. This leads to discontent and unhappiness – and can even lead to resentment and job changes.
How about you? Do you understand how to manage up in your organization? Do you see how it can create a new leadership dynamic? Are you ready to play a greater role in decision-making? NAPT hears you! Stay tuned for more information on how to manage up!