And here you thought the hardest job you had when you started to lead a team was going to be the actual “Leading of the team”. Not always the case. Leading Up is the process by which you need to start managing your manager or their manager or someone else that you need to report to. Maybe they are causing dysfunction on your team with a myriad of requests. Maybe they don’t know how everyone…
Go make your case, list all your accomplishments, tell them what your plans for further success are if you can be enabled to do so. And wait for them to tell you whether you can do it. Or stop waiting and make it happen. (And you thought this was going to be about your overseas inheritance that is waiting to be claimed).
It’s why we brought you on. It’s why you’re leading the team. It’s why you were sent to the customer site. It’s why you are on a plane to deliver that sales presentation. It’s why you started your own company. It doesn’t have to be the popular call, the right one, or the best one. But you need to make a call… because we’re all waiting.
It’s the only way you are going to realize what you need to do to get better for next time. And if you’re leading a team, then the impetus to fall down is even greater. Because they will learn from you and follow the path you lay out for them.
What do you like? Because there will be things that they like. What do you not like? Because there will be things that they will not like and this is much more important than what they do like. What do you feel is missing? Because once they see it, they will start thinking about what they want to see next. Are there changes we should be making? Because having a thought for change or what…