The Mintable
Managing up has a bad reputation. People associate it with office politics, sucking up, or playing the game in ways that feel disingenuous. That's not what it is. Managing up is just taking responsibility for your half of the working relationship with your manager instead of assuming it's entirely their job to make things work.
The people who get this right don't have better managers necessarily. They have better working relationships with the managers they have.
Understand what your manager actually cares about
Most friction in upward relationships comes from a mismatch between what you think matters to your manager and what actually matters to them. You optimize for things they don't value. You miss things they're quietly stressed about. You deliver work that's excellent by your standards but doesn't address the thing they were actually worried about.
Fix this by asking directly: "What would make the biggest difference for you this quarter?" and "What does a good week look like from your perspective?" These aren't sycophantic questions. They're diagnostic. The answers tell you where to put your energy.
Make your visibility problem their solution
Managers who don't know what you're working on are managers who can't advocate for you, protect you when resources get cut, or give you credit for things that don't have obvious attribution. Staying invisible isn't professional — it's a liability for both of you.
Send short, regular updates on what you're working on and where things stand. Not a detailed status report — a three-line summary of the meaningful stuff. This doesn't have to be a formal process. A quick message at the end of the week works. The point is keeping them informed without requiring them to chase you for it.
Bring solutions, not just problems
Every manager eventually develops a list of people they dread hearing from — the ones who show up with problems and wait for someone else to fix them. That list has real consequences for who gets opportunities and whose concerns get taken seriously.
This doesn't mean you can never surface a problem without having a solution. Sometimes you genuinely don't know what to do. But there's a difference between "I'm stuck on this and here are the three things I've already considered" and "here's a problem, what should I do?" The first signals that you're a thoughtful person who needs input. The second signals that you haven't engaged with the problem yet.
Communicate in their preferred style
Some managers want detail. Some want the summary and have no patience for context they didn't ask for. Some prefer async communication; others need to talk things through. If you don't know which kind of manager you have, you're probably defaulting to your own preference and creating unnecessary friction.
Watch how they communicate naturally. Do they send long emails or short ones? Do they use meetings to think things through or to make decisions that are already mostly made? Adjust to match. It's not inauthentic — it's communicating effectively. Insisting on your preferred format when you're trying to get something approved or heard is a self-defeating move.
Address disagreements directly and early
The worst version of managing up is performing agreement while privately resenting a decision or direction. That resentment shows up in how you execute, how you talk about your manager to your team, and in your own engagement over time.
If you disagree with something, say so — once, clearly, with your reasoning. "I think there's a risk we're not accounting for, and here's what I'd want to think through before we commit." Your manager may still go a different direction. That's their call. But you've done your job as an honest contributor, and now you can execute the decision with genuine support rather than quiet resistance.
Ask for what you need
Most managers are not mind readers. If you need clearer direction, more feedback, more autonomy, or a different kind of support — you have to ask. Assuming your manager should know what you need and then being frustrated when they don't provide it is a pattern that helps no one.
This isn't a weakness. It's one of the most useful things you can do to make the relationship work. "I work best when I know the why behind what we're prioritizing — can we build in five minutes to cover that at the start of planning?" is a completely reasonable request, and most managers will respect you more for making it than for silently struggling.