Rules for Advancement: Managing Up is Not Enough
As a leader looking to advance, you have to manage effectively in a number of directions. You need to lead your function well (managing down). You need to have a good comradery and collaboration with your peers (managing sideways). You also need to be a courageous follower of your leader (managing up).
This, however, is not enough.
At one point in my career at a previous company, I thought I was doing really well. I was leading a high performing team. I had a great reputation with my peers and the business. I also had a very strong relationship with my leader. He was my biggest fan. I thought this was everything I needed to continue to advance as a leader. I was wrong.
I often fought hard for what I felt was best for my organization. I made principled decisions and defended them as needed. I often asked my leader to “have my back” and he did.
In my effort to manage up, I periodically checked-in with my leader to see what I could do to be promoted to the next level. That’s when he told me this pearl of insight:
“Zach, you have to realize that it’s not just up to me.”
I assumed that my leader had the power to promote me. That’s not how it works. In several different organizations I’ve worked in, leaders make advancement decisions as a team. When I did something that required my leader to “have my back,” it wasn’t to my advantage around the talent management table. My leader defended me well, but ultimately, I put him in a tough spot to have to defend me so vigorously in the first place.
Had I understood this correctly, I still would have made my courageous decisions, but I would have put more effort into socializing my thinking with my leader’s peer group, getting their buy-in and support. It’s simply not optimal to rely solely on your leader’s positional and influential power.
This isn’t about currying favor and playing politics. This is about understanding how advancement really works and adjusting your approach accordingly. In addition to managing down, sideways, and up, you also need to manage diagonally-up to your leader’s peer group. This team is empowered to give you career opportunities. Serve them well.
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