 So you've got leading your own team all figured out. How good are yet managing your boss? Welcome back and congratulations on taking one more step towards becoming one of the great leaders of tomorrow. A lot of times we get so wrapped up in day-to-day problems and leading our own team that we forget how important it is to manage up the chain and build strong relationships with our boss and our boss's boss. Today I'll give you three tips on building those relationships and managing up effectively and stay tuned to the end because I'm going to give you a link to download our free leadership development plan workbook that will help you set your goals for your career for the next two, five and ten years and build a plan of action to achieve them. To be effective leaders we need to do more than just manage our own team effectively and efficiently. We need to build a strong working relationship with our boss, their boss, and so on off the chain. Managing up isn't just about getting our bosses to accept our proposals and solutions, it's about building trust with them and demonstrating that we have the initiative to do what's best for the mission and in the best interests of the organization. When I was a young captain in the Air Force I remember I was working on a project and I had to go see the wing commander about it and I had a couple of different options that I was thinking about doing but wasn't really sure which one to do and so I went into the wing commander and I said hey boss this is kind of what I want to do what's your preference and he looked at me and said Jason I'm a colonel you're a captain you're the project officer you figure it out and then he said listen I don't mean to be you know mean about this but I trust you you know what you're doing you're the expert on this tell me what you think is the best thing to do and that experience really showed me what managing up was all about it was about bringing those solutions to the to the boss or the big boss in this case and saying listen this is what I think is the best thing to do this is why I think that is what do you think and then moving forward with the solution instead of just going to the boss and saying I've got a problem I don't know how to figure it out what do you want me to do managing up is about bringing those solutions to the boss and that brings us to our first tip for managing up effectively bring solutions not problems anyone can go to the boss and say boss I've got a problem I don't know what to do what do you want me to do real leaders good effective leaders will go to the boss and say boss we've got this problem I've given it some thought here's my preferred solution here's a couple of alternatives here's what I think we should do do you have any objections or do you have a preference we want to go to the boss with some solutions in mind not just bring him more problems the boss already has plenty of problems on this plate we don't need to bring him more we want to show that initiative we want to build that trust we want to show that we're doing what's in the best interest of the mission getting the organization's mission is done and in the best interest of the organization and its people now that you've got bringing solutions to the boss instead of just problems figured out tip number two is to not just solve your own problems tip number two is to solve your boss's problems when you're thinking about the things that are going on when you think about bringing solutions the boss are going to talk to the boss about a problem and what you're going to do about it think about the way the boss is going to think about it think about the concerns that the boss has across all of the groups he manages not just yours think about the concerns that the boss has from his boss who's putting requirements down on him if you can solve your boss's problems especially before they even know you have a problem bring those solutions to them you're going to be effectively managing up solving your boss's problems and doing great things for the organization and your boss is going to trust you and he's going to see that you have that initiative to do its best for the mission and do what's right for the organization now you may be saying Jason I found out what one of the boss's problems was it was a problem he didn't even know he had went off found this great solution to it brought it to him and he completely disagreed he completely shut me down on what I wanted to do well that happens sometimes and that brings us to tip number three the one challenge rule so to effectively manage up you don't want to be disagreeing with your boss you don't want to be arguing with your boss over what the right thing to do is he's the boss the boss gets to decide that's what being the boss is all about you expect the same privilege from the people that you lead as well right when you make a decision you expect it to be final so we have this thing we call it the one challenge rule when the boss makes a decision you get one opportunity to say boss I think you're making a mistake here's why lay out your case respectfully calmly not emotionally but lay out your case in a logical and respectful way let the boss think on that the boss may decide okay I've changed my mind the boss may decide to go with his original decision that's all great you made your case you took the opportunity and you tried to do the right thing for the mission of the organization and the boss will respect that but once that decision is made you get that one chance that one challenge if the boss decides not to go with your solution you say you got a boss we're gonna go execute the way you want to go do it and you go do it so the next time you're getting ready to pitch one of your ideas to your boss or your boss's boss or even further up the chain think about these three tips before you go into the meeting remember we're trying to build a strong working relationship with our boss and all of their bosses up the chain of command all of our leaders in our organization want to build a strong working relationship with and we want to build that trust by showing them that we're focused on what's best for the mission and what's in the best interest of the organization so try these three tips for managing up next time you go into a meeting with someone higher up in your chain of command and I guarantee you will build that strong working relationship that you're looking for if you found this helpful please like comment and share it with a friend or co-worker click on that link below in the description section that'll let you download our free leadership development plan workbook and help you set goals for the next two five and ten years of your career and build a plan of action to achieve it if you have any business or leadership questions leave them in the comments for us or email us at info at evilgeniusleadership.com evilgeniusleadership.com is also where you can find out about all of our coaching programs so if you're looking for a little more one-on-one training to develop your leadership skills go check it out there send us an email and schedule a free consultation with us thanks for watching today I really appreciate it and remember the future is out there leave the web