Manage Up by Sharing Your Point of View
Bring your manager a recommendation to react to, not an open question to solve.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
The highest-leverage way to manage up is to be vocal with your point of view rather than asking 'what should we do?' Proposing a recommendation reduces your manager's cognitive load, showcases you as a strategic thinker, and surfaces the frontline insights only you have visibility into. It stays relevant no matter how senior you get.
Origin
Taught by Wes Kao, countering the myth that managing up is a junior-only skill you outgrow.
Core principles
- 01Managing up becomes more important, not less, as you get senior
- 02Asking 'what should we do?' dumps the full problem-solving load on your manager
- 03Proposing a POV gives them something to build off of
- 04You often have the most proximity to a problem; if you stay silent, your manager has no visibility into it
- 05Sharing a POV forces you to think more deeply because your reputation is on the line
How to run it
- 1
Form a recommendation before you go to your manager
Instead of arriving with an open question, decide what you think should be done and why.
- 2
Frame it as something to react to
Say 'here's what I think we should do — how does that sound? Where do you see gaps? Am I thinking in the right direction?' rather than 'what should we do?'
Pro tip This reduces their mental lift and shows you're an active, rigorous, strategic thinker.
- 3
Add insight to whatever you deliver
When you share a report, don't just hand it over — point out the insights and takeaways yourself. Flag problems you're noticing with a hypothesis about the cause.
Pro tip A POV doesn't require a perfect answer: 'I've noticed this problem in a couple places; here's what I think might be happening.'
In the wild
Kao notes many managers wish their junior people would speak up more, because those junior people have close contact with customers, support tickets, and data-cleaning work — sources the manager can't see directly. Staying quiet withholds insight the manager would love to have.
→ Sharing observations turns proximity to the problem into leadership visibility and promotion opportunities.
Common mistakes
Waiting to be told what to do
A reactive posture — expecting the manager to figure things out and hand you well-defined tasks — becomes untenable as ambiguity increases with seniority.
Is it for you?
Best for
Individual contributors at any level who want to manage up, earn trust, and position themselves for promotion.
Not ideal for
Situations where you genuinely lack the context to form any view and the honest move is to gather information first.
From the transcript
“the more highly leveraged way to contribute and manage up is uh by being more vocal about sharing your point of view”
“When you just ask your manager, hey manager, what should we do? you're putting a lot of cognitive load on your manager”
“if you instead said, Hey manager, here's what I think we should do. How does that sound? Where do you see gaps?”
“sharing your point of view doesn't mean that you have the perfect answer”
From the episode
Become a better communicator: Specific frameworks to improve your clarity, influence, and impact
Wes Kao (coach, entrepreneur, advisor)