Being good at your job is rarely enough.

So many competent people remain overlooked, overworked or frustrated because they’ve never learned how to manage the relationship above them.

We assume that managers are, by definition, managing…even leading 🙂

In reality, they’re overwhelmed, unclear or unaware of what their team needs. They tend to lean on the most capable people to hold things together. No one steps in to structure the work or guide the conversation and alas, confusion grows.

Managing up is the skill of recognising this gap and choosing to fill it.

Consider the tangible shift when you:

• Initiate strategic conversations

• Articulate your insights and recommendations before issues escalate

• Frame your contributions in terms of wider organisational objectives

• Demonstrate how your work directly advances collective goals

• Proactively surface potential challenges and propose solutions

• Provide foresight that enables more informed decision-making

• Offer clear, directional counsel

• Move beyond status updates to become a source of actionable strategic thought

• Make their job easier 🙂

This approach changes your role. Instead of just doing tasks, you become a stabilising presence that lifts team performance.

The calibre of leadership I’m describing is what consistently builds substantial careers and drives meaningful organisational impact.

Opportunities to lead more proactively exist from where you stand.