Nobody Taught You to Manage Up. That's Why You're Stuck
by Feras Asakrieh
Jul 06, 2026
| Career ยท Leadership | ||||||
| By Feras Asakrieh ยท 5 min read ยท Issue #20 | ||||||
| Today I want to teach you one of the most powerful career skills that almost nobody talks about. Managing up. Not managing your team. Not managing your peers. Managing the person above you. | ||||||
| Your manager controls your next opportunity. They decide who gets the good projects. They say your name in rooms you are not in. They choose who gets promoted. And most people have no strategy for that relationship at all. They just work hard and hope their manager notices. That is not a plan. That is a wish. | ||||||
| The Biggest Reason Most People Never Manage Up | ||||||
| They think it is political. They were taught that hard work speaks for itself, so they never do it. They keep their heads down and wait, then wonder why someone else got promoted. They do not know what their manager actually cares about. Most people are solving the wrong problem. They communicate in a way that works for themselves, not their manager. | ||||||
| Step 1: Understand What Keeps Your Manager Up at Night | ||||||
| Before your next one-on-one, ask yourself: what does my manager actually care about right now? Their targets. A difficult stakeholder. A project behind schedule. Their own relationship with leadership. Early in my career I thought my job was to deliver tasks and report back. The moment I started helping my manager look good, my own career started moving. | ||||||
| Step 2: Make It Easy for Your Manager to Champion You | ||||||
| Your manager cannot advocate for you if they do not know what to say. When your name comes up in a room you are not in, they need something specific. Start sending a simple weekly update: three things you delivered, one challenge you are working through, one thing coming next. You are not updating your manager. You are arming them. | ||||||
| Step 3: Build the Relationship Before You Need It | ||||||
| Most people only invest in their manager relationship when they want something: a promotion, a raise, a reference. By then it is too late to build trust. Ask your manager how you can make their job easier this quarter. Show up to one-on-ones with your own agenda. When you invest consistently, your name is already on their list when opportunity shows up. | ||||||
| Your career lives in the conversations happening when you are not in the room. Managing up is about making sure that when those conversations happen, your manager already knows exactly what to say. | ||||||
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