HBR Guide to Managing Up and Across (HBR Guide Series)

ManagingYour Boss

by Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback

Managing up is important because your boss plays a pivotal role in your success—or your failure. You can leverage your boss’s influence in the organization on your behalf in several ways—for example, by obtaining valuable information, winning needed resources, and securing important support for your personal development and career. When you face difficult trade-offs and must make decisions that create both beneficial and painful consequences for others, your boss’s advice, insight, knowledge of the organization, and access to higher management can be invaluable. As your organization shifts and changes shape in an uncertain market, a good relationship here becomes a necessity for navigating ...