managing-up

SKILL.md

Strategies for working effectively with managers and executives drawn from 35 product leaders.

Proactively communicate upward with regular updates on priorities, blockers, and progress rather than waiting to be asked, using consistent formats like weekly emails

Bring recommendations and point of view to your manager instead of just problems, reducing their cognitive load and positioning yourself as an ally

Understand your manager's priorities and two levels up to tailor communication and align your work with broader organizational strategy

Use concrete artifacts, data, and experiments to support your ideas rather than abstract arguments or opinions

Leverage your manager as a resource to clear blockers and remove obstacles, rather than trying to solve everything independently

Managing Up

Help the user work effectively with their manager and executives using strategies from 35 product leaders.

How to Help

When the user asks for help managing up:

Understand the relationship - Ask about their manager's style, what they care about, and where the friction or challenge is

Diagnose the gap - Determine if this is a communication issue, alignment issue, trust issue, or visibility issue

Apply the right approach - Help them choose between proactive updates, reframing conversations, building trust through wins, or direct feedback conversations

Build sustainable habits - Guide them toward ongoing practices rather than one-time fixes

Core Principles

Your manager is a resource to leverage, not an obstacle

Boz: "The advice I give more frequently than any other is for people to more directly leverage their leaders." Your primary job is to achieve results. Your manager has tools and authority to clear paths. Ask for help to bulldoze blockers rather than trying to solve everything yourself.