276 3 Vital Questions Every Leader Must Answer to Manage Up, Reduce Overwhelm, and Have More Influence with Your Boss
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Oh, this is a rough one. Happens all the time. Manager asks you for information and you just answer their question. Don't make that mistake. Hey, it's David and you're listening to Leadership Without Losing Your Soul.

Welcome to the show. Today, you are in the right place for a podcast that's helping human-centered leaders master communication to accelerate your team's performance, reduce stress, and build a career with the respect and influence you deserve. I'm

I'm your host, David Dye, president of Let's Grow Leaders. And in this episode, yeah, we're talking about managing up and you're going to learn four of the most common mistakes you might be making when you manage up. And you're going to learn three critical questions that you must answer that will help you to build your trust and credibility with your manager, save time when you're managing up, avoid being micromanaged, and ultimately are going to give you a lot more influence, less stress and overwhelm. All right, so here we go.

When your manager asks you for information, don't just answer their question. Why not? They need you to have a perspective. And if you want to get better at managing up, these three questions are going to help you turn whatever information you have into influence. So let's take a look at some of these problems together.

Specifically, why is your boss frustrated? Sometimes we hear from frustrated executives, they're buried in data. Their team sends them reams of information without context, PowerPoint decks that don't answer the obvious question or vague answers that lead to more questions. And it's all unnecessary. If your manager asks you for information and your answers don't build your influence, then

or even worse, they cause frustration, you're missing an opportunity and you're probably making one of these common mistakes. So what are these common mistakes when you're presenting information? Mistake number one is that you misinterpret or you underestimate the ask. This happens when you're swamped, you're moving fast, there's so much to do, your boss asks you for an update, and you want to be responsive, so you really fast throw together a chart that shows the last 12 months.

But you don't explain why February's numbers were so different. And now your manager wonders, why don't you care about the obvious issue? You're so close to the project that your focus is on the twigs and leaves and not the tree, much less the whole forest. So your manager asks you for information and then you bury them in minutiae that's meaningful to you. But they wanted your perspective on the project's success. And now they have to ask again.

Or another way that this happens, your manager asks you for analysis. So you put together a tight description of what's happening and why, but you don't make any recommendations. And your frustrated manager wonders, what am I supposed to do with this? Shouldn't my person be able to solve these problems themselves? Or mistake number two, you think your boss thinks like you. Everyone has a natural style, how they get information, how they make decisions, but those styles differ from one person to the next.

Maybe you prefer to read. I'm a reader. I love to read. I way prefer getting information in visual and being able to read it versus somebody telling me. So if you're like me, you might prepare excellent written emails and reports that your manager ignores because she prefers to listen and talk through the information. Or you like to see all the data when you're deciding. So you give them everything, but maybe they just want a summary or they want your suggestion.

So that's mistake number two, thinking that your boss thinks like you. Mistake number three is CYA. You're trying to stay out of trouble. Your manager asks for an update and you bury the bad news in a spreadsheet or a hundred slides. Rather than interpret the data and risk a negative reaction from your manager, you dump it all on them, leave them to figure it out. Or you don't offer a point of view or recommendation because you're worried about how your manager will react.

After all, they can't get mad at you if you didn't say anything wrong, right? Well, wrong. Of course, they can still get upset. And now to make it worse, you didn't actually do your job because you didn't lead. And then there's mistake number four, kind of the opposite of number three. You try to look too good. And again, this is what I have done. There's a time to show your work, but going overboard can make you look insecure, not competent.

So if you showboat and you point out how outstanding you are, you actually cast doubt as to your true capabilities. And worse, in the effort to show off, you're missing the chance to genuinely help and build the influence you want. You're going to have way more influence managing up when you can add true value. So here are three vital questions every leader you want to be able to answer to manage up, reduce overwhelm, and have more influence with your boss.

You're also, if you're able to answer these three, you're going to avoid those four mistakes we just talked about. So here's how you do this to add value. And yes, there are some powerful phrases here. If you recognize call back to season 16, if you've been listening for a while, some powerful phrases in here. If you haven't listened to season 16, highly recommend check that out. Some great powerful phrases to help you manage your workplace conflict and collaboration and communicate more effectively.

All right. Question number one, what does your manager need? What do they actually need? This is the most important question to make sure that you're adding value. What does your manager actually need? And you're going to ask yourself this question a couple times from different angles. And the better you get to know your manager, the easier this question will become.

The reason you're going to ask this question a couple of different times from different angles is because your manager might not ask for what it is they need. I know that can be frustrating or weird, but it happens. They'll ask for what they think they need, or they ask for the first part, but not the second or third pieces. Maybe they don't understand the issue as well as you do, so they ask the totally wrong question, or they don't specifically ask for your recommendation, but they expect you to have one.

So here are ways to think about what your manager truly needs. How will they use the information? Will they use it to make a decision? Are they going to pass it to someone else? Are they going to implement your suggestion? Do they need it quickly or do they need it in detail? What level of confidence do they need in the information that you're providing? Do they need a precise, accurate answer or is a quick range enough for now?

Do they need it nicely formatted to share with other people? Or is just an email with a quick, simple answer good enough? And what are the next three questions your manager would naturally ask? And that's one of my favorite questions. As you're thinking about managing up, you're thinking about providing information. What are the next three questions they're going to ask? Answer them from the beginning. Answer them and immediately everything's going to be better for you. You're going to have more influence. They're going to be helped by what you provided.

And you're going to save time because they're not coming back to ask you those questions. So what are the next three questions your manager would naturally ask? Make sure you answer those and always have a perspective. Whether your manager asked for it, you want to be ready to offer a point of view. You're closer to the work. What would you recommend? Now, as you're thinking through those questions, if you're not sure what your manager needs, here are a couple of ways you can help clarify.

So in the previous episode, if you didn't listen to the last episode, I encourage you right after this one, go check that out. It's all about the check for understanding. But here's what you're going to say. Hey, boss, or hey, my manager, here's what I'm hearing you need and how you're going to use the answers I give you. And you spell it out, whatever your understanding is. Do I have that right? And then you'll know.

And if there's something else, they'll expand on it. Now, if you don't have enough information to even check for understanding, you can draw out more information by asking, hey, listen, boss, I want to make sure I get you what you need here. What will a successful update do for you?

That is a powerful phrase. One of my favorite powerful phrases. What will a successful update do for you? When you ask that question, you're finding out what your manager needs the information for, how they're going to use it, what it's going to allow them to do. And you can make sure and answer those needs. Okay. Our second big picture question. You got to be able to answer this. How do they need the information? When you work with a manager frequently, you can ask this early in your relationship.

And if you don't know the person making the request, if it's not somebody you have a long-term relationship with, include it in your first conversation. Just like this. How do you like to receive information? And if they're not sure, you can spell it out. Some possibilities to explore. Do you like it written, diagrammed, spoken? Do you prefer bullet point summaries or do you want some analysis? Numbers, narrative, both? When you can't know how they need it, if you're getting it second, third hand and you're just not sure,

start this way. You can start with a one-page brief, bulleted summary of key information and your recommendations, and then in the following pages, provide the data and the analysis. And then you can make yourself available to discuss the report. That's a safe way to approach it if you just don't know, and there's no way for you to find out. And then question number three, when do they need it? You don't want to waste time if they need it quickly.

Nor do you want to drop everything and abandon your work to provide a report that could have waited until next week. And the tool to help you manage these priorities is scheduling the finish. You never want to leave a conversation that requires action without scheduling the finish by addressing three factors. Ideally, when will the task be complete? Second, is this workable or do you need to resolve competing priorities? And third, is the scheduled finish on your calendar and the calendar of anyone else involved?

So for example, your manager asks you for an update on the sales figures for your newest product. You know that she prefers written bullet points and the ability to ask clarifying questions. So first you ask how she'll use the data and whether she wants the actual data or a trend analysis. Then you schedule the finish by asking, ideally, when do you need this? She asks for the information by tomorrow afternoon.

You do have time at 4 p.m. available to meet, but you also have to attend a marketing update in the morning that's going to not leave you time to do her update. So you tell her, negotiating the competing priorities, hey, if I can skip that marketing meeting, I can send you the information at 3, and then we can do a quick video call at 4 so I can answer your questions. How does that sound?

So you can master the art of managing up, increase your influence and get your manager the right information at the right time by answering those three critical questions. What do they need? How do they need it? And when do they need it? Make sure you can answer those three questions and you are on your way to a more influential relationship with your manager, your

you're adding value, the work you're doing is more useful, more meaningful to the organization, to your career, and you're not going to waste time having to answer second, third, fourth questions from your manager that you've already thought through. So if this episode was helpful for you, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any of these practical communication skills. We are here to help you accelerate your team's performance, reduce stress, and build a career with the respect and influence you deserve.

And, uh, always love to get your reviews. If you haven't left us a review on your favorite podcast platform, those really do help other managers, other leaders who can use these same human centered practical leadership communication skills. I'm just going to help them find them as well. So if you're able to, while you're thinking about it, hit those stars, doesn't have to be long. Tell people what you love about the episode and share it with someone that, you know, could use it.

Also want to make sure you know there is a guide that you can print out and use to walk your team through these communication skills. It's going to help as you walk through together, it's going to help your team. It's going to reduce their stress. It's going to improve morale and it's going to improve your team's productivity by giving them the skills to have these conversations with one another and with you. And you can find that whole walkthrough. That guide is at letsgrowleaders.com slash podcast. Hope you'll take advantage of that. And until next time.

Manage up, answer those questions, and be the leader you'd want your boss to be. This podcast is a part of the C-Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suiteradio.com.