It was my first job out of graduate school and I was working for a well-known company that allowed my mother to boast of her successful daughter. Meanwhile, I was working 60-80 hour weeks fielding the requests of four different managers and product areas, and giving it my all with very little feedback one way or the other. My days were spent in quiet companionship with dual computer screens and employee databases in a tireless effort to prove my diligence and worth.

You can imagine my shock when my performance review came back negative.

Sure, I had my grievances. However, looking back, my situation was due to my inability to appropriately manage up.  Too often we manage up when problems arise, and fail to make it a regular part of our practice in setting expectations with those who guide and direct our work.

Effectively managing up is as simple as helping your managers (and team members) understand what you need from them and gaining their confidence in your abilities by creating trust and accountability. Most managers aren’t malicious, but you may be dealing with one or more of the following:

You have a new manager

You have a verbose manager

You have a taciturn manager

You have an absent manager

You have a retiring/transitioning manager

And the list goes on. Regardless of the type of manager you have, it is your role to remove obstacles – real and perceived – and create trust.

Time to Build Trust

According to a recent statistics, the majority of managers would not recommend their employees to a friend. This illustrates a disparity of trust in most manager-employee relationships.  To become integral to your manager, you must earn their trust.“,” an article published by , provides several recommendations for building trust with your manager.