Managing Up (Irina’s Version): How to Meet The Unspoken Needs of Your Manager

And build a symbiotic partnership that benefits both of you

Reading time: 8 minutes

The first time I heard about “managing up” was years into being a senior engineer. Back in those days—and yeah, I know how it sounds—we were nowhere nearly as savvy as ICs talking about career growth or helping our manager.

These days, though, “managing up” is a widely known term, and getting good at it is a major move for growing your career.

What “managing up” essentially means is helping your manager help you, and building a symbiotic partnership that benefits both of you.

In today’s article, we focus on how to manage up. We cover:

• The 🔑 question in managing up

• Learning about your manager’s goals and working style

• The unspoken needs of your manager

The advice presented in this article applies to both ICs and managers.

Let’s dive in!

---

This article is part of a series talking about the optimal career trifecta: getting managed, self-management, and managing up. The series includes:

The Dance Between Getting Managed, Self-Managing, and Managing Up

How to Self-Manage Even if You Have a Manager (Your Future Self Will Thank You)

---

The 🔑 question in managing up

The relationship between you and your manager is a 2-way street, where both parties have feelings, needs, and aspirations.

Just like your manager is trying to tailor their management approach to fit you and your working style, you should also be figuring out how to best support and communicate with your manager to make both your jobs easier and more effective.

Managing up doesn’t look the same for everybody, but there is one fundamental question that sits at the center of it: