Managing up is basically being the best possible employee to the immediate boss, the top management, and the entire company. This is the mark of ideal employee and is not limited to the nature of the boss. Indeed, it is possible to manage up and be the best employee even while having the best possible boss just as it is possible to be unable to manage up because the boss is too good and too close of a friend (Armstrong, 2016). The main premise behind managing up is that being a good employee favors even the employee and ensures productive employment. It also increases propensity for career advancement and enhances an employee’s indispensability complex.
How to be Resource to my Leader
To be a good resource to my leader, I need to be the best employee I can be and to carry out all my duties to the promptly, efficiently, and to the best of my capabilities. However, from the perspective of managing up, this is just the basics. It also calls upon me as a junior to support and be of assistance to my leader, make the leader’s work as easy as possible and also help along where practicable. Learning to contest points with the leader while being polite is also important so is being able to be rational and open minded during discussions (Epitropaki et al., 2016). To avoid conflict along the way, I would also set up standards and operating procedures between us beforehand. Further, whenever the leader gives me instructions, it will be important to seek for and get particulars such as exactly how to perform a duty and the time frame involved.
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How I can help a leader be a great leader
Leadership is a position in an organization and also a post filled by an individual. This creates the dichotomy of the position as defined by the organization and the individual as born and bred. Not all leaders are great. Indeed some of them are even incompetent, unqualified or not even interested in the objectives of the organization. It is however, possible for me as a junior staff to make a great leader out of even an incompetent and unqualified leader (Epitropaki et al, 2016). For me to be a good resource to the leader, it is important to understand all aspects of the leader from a personal and official capacity. This understanding will enable me to know what the leader needs and also what the leader wants. Differentiating between the wants of the leader and the needs of the leader is critical as the needs ought to be supplied even as the wants are evaluated. If the wants are good for the organization they can be granted and if not, it is my obligation to politely and circumspectly dissuade the leader from them.
How I can build a relationship with the leader
As a junior member of staff, my relationship with the leader is important to me than it is to the leader. The onus is, therefore, upon me to create and regulate this relationship at all times. Regulation is important as this relationship should neither be distant nor be intimate thus a careful balance in between ought to be maintained. The basic attribute of any relationship is trust. Trust can only be earned not given (Epitropaki et al., 2016). This creates an obligation to prove to the leader that I can be trusted with important things by being exceedingly faithful even in smaller things. The second important aspect of any relationship is communication. Communication needs to be in existence and also done efficiently and in the right manner. The right thing, said in the wrong way can create a crisis but even the worst thing can sound benign when said in the right way. Finally, an understanding of the chain of command is vital to my relationship with the leader.
How I can View a Leader Realistically
As indicated above, a leader is also human with human strengths and weaknesses just like leadership is a position with powers and responsibilities. The position deserves utmost respect at all times irrespective of the conduct of the individual holding it (Armstrong, 2016). Until there is a change of guard, I therefore have the responsibility to obey, respect, and support the leader at all times. It is however, realistic to understand that a leader does not have all the answers. Therefore, as an employee, I should have the courage to speak up and express myself when it seems that my leader needs my help. Further, a leader can be wrong and in need of correction. However this correction ought to be undertaken with the understanding that albeit the individual is wrong, the position still carries powers and privileges and therefore deserves utmost respect. The immediate leader may not necessarily be the overall leader and there are secondary considerations to be made such as the leader’s leader and the general interests of the organization (Epitropaki et al, 2016).
My Managing Up Strategy
My first strategy for managing up is having an in-depth understanding of my leader as an individual and also his obligations (Rhodes & Rhodes, 2016; Armstrong, 2016). The second strategy is to make a determination that I will follow my leader to success but not to failure. This will entail a continuous evaluation of the positions taken by the leader. However, I will be careful not to develop inordinate doubts. As and when the situation demands, I will stand my ground and speak up in pursuit of doing the right thing without being cowed. Finally, even as I assist the leader achieve the goals of the organization, I will also work towards enhancing my own brand in anticipation of future leadership as a good follower ought to be an apprentice for future leadership (Rhodes & Rhodes, 2016).
References
Rhodes, J. E., & Rhodes, L. G. (2016, January). Managing Up Through the Use of Influence and Collaboration. In ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition . American Society of Safety Engineers.
Armstrong, M. (2016). Managing Up: Strategies for Cultivating Effective Supervisor Relationships. Library Leadership and Management Association Webinar Series (2016) Retrieved from: http://works.bepress.com/michelle_armstrong/46/
Epitropaki, O., Kark, R., Mainemelis, C., & Lord, R. G. (2016). Leadership and followership identity processes: A multilevel review. The Leadership Quarterly . doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.003
Jin, M., McDonald, B., & Park, J. (2016). Followership and job satisfaction in the public sector: The moderating role of perceived supervisor support and performance-oriented culture. International Journal of Public Sector Management , 29 (3), 218-237.
