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The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches
"This is a must-read for bosses and subordinates alike, as it exposes our flaws but teaches us how we can work together to achieve our common goals."
--Ellen Coulter, President, The Advantage Software Company
What do you do when the biggest threat to your project is your boss? It's not that your boss is out to get you. In fact, bosses generally mean well. But clueless leadership from a well-intentioned boss can sometimes cause more damage than a criminal mastermind tying your project to the railroad tracks.
The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up provides refreshingly practical and candid insight into the best practices and techniques that project managers have successfully used for decades to manage a wide variety of senior-level stakeholders--ranging from perfectly competent and pleasant to downright dysfunctional and inept.
While managing up is an incredibly valuable skill for virtually any type of boss (not just the difficult ones), the book includes recommendations for managing six particularly challenging--and common--types of senior leaders. They are the bombastic Tornado, who takes over meetings without realizing it; the Wishful Thinker, who regularly asks the impossible; the Clueless Chameleon, who can't quite decide what he or she really wants (but still holds you responsible for delivering it); the MIA Boss, who is just not around enough; the Meddlesome Micromanager, who hovers and insists you complete a task his or her way; and the Naked Emperor, who falls in love with his or her own crazy ideas. Brownlee also offers basic techniques to use with any boss, even a great one.
This book is not just for professionals seeking to enhance their workplace effectiveness but also for senior leaders interested in addressing their blind spots and coaching others toward a more collaborative, results-focused leadership approach.
--Ellen Coulter, President, The Advantage Software Company
What do you do when the biggest threat to your project is your boss? It's not that your boss is out to get you. In fact, bosses generally mean well. But clueless leadership from a well-intentioned boss can sometimes cause more damage than a criminal mastermind tying your project to the railroad tracks.
The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up provides refreshingly practical and candid insight into the best practices and techniques that project managers have successfully used for decades to manage a wide variety of senior-level stakeholders--ranging from perfectly competent and pleasant to downright dysfunctional and inept.
While managing up is an incredibly valuable skill for virtually any type of boss (not just the difficult ones), the book includes recommendations for managing six particularly challenging--and common--types of senior leaders. They are the bombastic Tornado, who takes over meetings without realizing it; the Wishful Thinker, who regularly asks the impossible; the Clueless Chameleon, who can't quite decide what he or she really wants (but still holds you responsible for delivering it); the MIA Boss, who is just not around enough; the Meddlesome Micromanager, who hovers and insists you complete a task his or her way; and the Naked Emperor, who falls in love with his or her own crazy ideas. Brownlee also offers basic techniques to use with any boss, even a great one.
This book is not just for professionals seeking to enhance their workplace effectiveness but also for senior leaders interested in addressing their blind spots and coaching others toward a more collaborative, results-focused leadership approach.
176 pages, Paperback
Published February 26, 2019
15 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Dana Brownlee
2 books1 followerAfter years of working as a business strategy consultant with top IT firms, in 2003 Dana Brownlee founded Professionalism Matters an Atlanta based corporate training company. An energetic and innovative speaker and trainer, Dana has thrilled audiences with speaking events around the U.S. and globally. She has been interviewed by (or published in) CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Redbook, Working Mother, Forbes.com, and other notable publications. Her first book "The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches" will be published by Berrett-Koehler in February 2019. A nationally recognized speaker, Dana speaks to groups large and small on a variety of topics including tips for rescuing your meetings, dealing with the difficult boss, secrets of the “Thoroughbred Leader”, and discovering the keys to true work life balance. She holds a BS, BIE, MBA, and PMP. Contact Dana at https://professionalismmatters.com/
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 14, 2021
lessons learnt and potential spoilers:
-managing up can be about taking things off your boss’s plate and making their job easier
-Be particularly flexible and willing to take on the “dog” projects that no one wants
-Actively work to make their boss’s job easier by being exceptionally reliable and productive
-managing up can be about taking things off your boss’s plate and making their job easier
-Be particularly flexible and willing to take on the “dog” projects that no one wants
-Actively work to make their boss’s job easier by being exceptionally reliable and productive
July 11, 2022
“Managing up” is a relatively new concept in the business world. It refers to taking care of your boss’ and senior management’s needs as a part of your duties. Managing down, presumably, refers to managing subordinates, but managing up, not just managing down, has a significant impact on one’s career trajectory. Brownlee seeks to explore this concept by describing what this looks like pragmatically as a newer employee.
Most employees have encountered difficult bosses at some point in their career. Many are quick to relate horror stories when trying to empathize with new employees. However, Brownlee points out that a few techniques could mitigate many of these horror stories. Bosses can be “managed” – not told what to do, but handled by appropriate skills. In this book, she hopes to identify the dynamics of the relationship and introduce specific strategies on how to deal with it.
Throughout the book, her metaphors entertain, and she tries bring the book to life with real stories. Management books sometime have a theoretical tinge to them, without much grounding in day-to-day life. In contrast, Brownlee’s analysis comes from the bottom up and finds its primary font in regular business life. She sprinkles each chapter with a questionnaire to detect whether the reader herself/himself exhibit traits of one of these difficult bosses. It’s packaged as a fairly standard business book that touches all the bases, but still lacks any fireworks.
This accessible book is primarily geared towards newer employees (who are just getting used to the workplace and bosses) and towards newer managers (who are just getting used to supervising other employees). However, its potential audience can be much wider and potentially engages anyone in a hierarchical workplace. Managing up, like this book, is simply about taking care of others’ needs so that you can get your work done more effectively. It’s not “brown-nosing” or “kissing up” but rather a strategy to accomplish more and more with your work and your career.
Most employees have encountered difficult bosses at some point in their career. Many are quick to relate horror stories when trying to empathize with new employees. However, Brownlee points out that a few techniques could mitigate many of these horror stories. Bosses can be “managed” – not told what to do, but handled by appropriate skills. In this book, she hopes to identify the dynamics of the relationship and introduce specific strategies on how to deal with it.
Throughout the book, her metaphors entertain, and she tries bring the book to life with real stories. Management books sometime have a theoretical tinge to them, without much grounding in day-to-day life. In contrast, Brownlee’s analysis comes from the bottom up and finds its primary font in regular business life. She sprinkles each chapter with a questionnaire to detect whether the reader herself/himself exhibit traits of one of these difficult bosses. It’s packaged as a fairly standard business book that touches all the bases, but still lacks any fireworks.
This accessible book is primarily geared towards newer employees (who are just getting used to the workplace and bosses) and towards newer managers (who are just getting used to supervising other employees). However, its potential audience can be much wider and potentially engages anyone in a hierarchical workplace. Managing up, like this book, is simply about taking care of others’ needs so that you can get your work done more effectively. It’s not “brown-nosing” or “kissing up” but rather a strategy to accomplish more and more with your work and your career.
June 19, 2023
read it during travels.
It is especially useful and enticing to read, because I am having issues with my boss at the moment. So good to have the perspectives from these "difficult bosses".
The categorization of difficult bosses is helpful. Such a clear structure of the content, by that I believe Dana is a great PM.
After reading this, whenever I have issue with my boss, I address my concerns in align with "her fears" and knows what kind of things to say in order to remind her the perspective from a position like mine.
It is especially useful and enticing to read, because I am having issues with my boss at the moment. So good to have the perspectives from these "difficult bosses".
The categorization of difficult bosses is helpful. Such a clear structure of the content, by that I believe Dana is a great PM.
After reading this, whenever I have issue with my boss, I address my concerns in align with "her fears" and knows what kind of things to say in order to remind her the perspective from a position like mine.
March 24, 2019
Enjoyed this book as it had useful examples and advice on every chapter. Dana talks about different management styles and techniques to use in various situations.
November 28, 2022
Quite useful.
August 3, 2025
There are three elements necessary to improve any performance problem: awareness, ability and motivation
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews