🤓 The 1 thing you can do to become a better leader

Thoughts by Ronen Shetelboim, #3・ Mar 9, 2022

I am really excited to tell you about this 1 thing that is going to make you a better leader. 🙌

Trust me, It’s going to be a game changer for you.

Not only is it going to make you a better leader, but it’s also going to make your company more successful.

Pretty incredible, isn’t it? ✨

Ok, so what is it?

Before I am going to tell you all about the what, the how and the why, let me share 2 quick stories. 

Story #1: 📖

When I got my first tech job in the US.

I worked a lot of hours, and I was always on top of all the projects that were given to me. 

I considered myself as a good employee and I wanted more. I wanted to get promoted.

I remember asking one of my mentors what do I need to do to get to the next level. 

Well.. he said, it’s quite simple. ‘’you should start managing up and sideways’’.

When I got home that day, I spent a couple of hours researching the topic. 

There wasn’t a lot of information online, all I was able to find is something about managing your managers. 

It sort of made sense, but I didn’t understand the WHY behind it, or how it was going to take me to the next level. Not till about a year later. 

Story #2: 📖

A year later, I participated in a management course that was organized by one of our investors. 

I remember the instructor asked us to take 5 minutes and think about our jobs and our teams.

Then, he asked us to take a piece of paper and write down an answer to the following question:

• What team are you on?

I remember clearly thinking, that’s an easy question… I am on the marketing team. I managed 5-6 people at the time and I was proud to be part of that team. 

The instructor looked at me and smiled, he explained.. It's pretty common to think that you are part of your own team or the team that you manage, but actually, you have it all wrong. 

If you are a manager, you are first and foremost part of the leadership team, your responsibility is to help the company to be successful and hit its target, then, as a second priority you are part of your own team, the marketing team. 

If you help your company to win, your stakeholders win, your team wins, you win. Everyone wins.

When you understand that, and act like that, then the sky's the limit for you. 

That was the WHY that I was looking for.

After this workshop I finally understood the meaning behind managing up and sideways, why it’s important and how it can help me become a better leader. 

So let’s get into it...

What is Managing Up and Sideways?

Managing Up And Sideways refers to all activities related to building relationships with your manager / stakeholders (managing up) and your peers from other departments (managing sideways). In addition, it’s about extending your influence beyond your own projects and your own team. 

And.. extending your influence = leadership. According to Maxwell: “leadership is about the ability to influence others to take an action”.

It’s a simple equation. 👇

managing up & sideways effectively = you are extending your influence on your org = you become a better leader.. as simple as that 😉

Lastly, according to McKinsey & Company, leaders must manage up and sideways: “Great Leaders must extend their influence and manage upward and horizontally. In fact, it is the most important for business success and career success.”

Now…let’s dive into the why…

2 reasons why managing up is important?

1. Your company’s success. Your company's success = your success. If you do it right, and other managers/leaders in your organization do the same, you are going to help your company succeed. Managing up and sideways ensures that everyone is aligned on priorities and working towards the same objectives. In addition, it will provide the key stakeholders with the right information to make better decisions. Now remember, if you make your company successful, you are successful,  you become a part of that success story.

2. Your own career advancement. Managing up and sideways will help you become a better leader, develop important relationships, stand out and get promoted. The way I see it, there are 3 common levels of great employees:

   • Level 1 - you do your job, you build a great team, you achieve your objectives.

   • Level 2 - is about understanding your managers’ priorities and objectives and helping them achieve their targets.

   • Level 3 - is not only about your team and manager, but about understanding the objectives of  your company, executive (managing up) and peers (managing sideways), and helping the company achieve its targets. 

   Implementing managing up and sideways strategies and tactics, will help you to get from level 1 to level 3. And when you get to level 3, and you are good at it, you’ll stand out, you’ll unlock more opportunities for career advancement.

And finally.. let’s dive into the how..

10 strategies to get you better at managing up and sideways:

1. Identify the key people you should manage up and sideways outside of your team. For example: it can be your manager (manage up), your peers at other teams (manage sideways), your executive team.

2. Know the priorities of those key people.

3. Schedule recurring meetings with the key people you identified (you can also open a slack channel for some of those people or for leadership).

4. Send recurring updates to the key people, make sure you updates are relevant and aligned with their priorities. 

5. Be prepared when meeting with them. Your stakeholders are probably busy, you should always be super prepared for your meetings. For example: 

   • Come to every meeting with 1-3 items to discuss. Respect their time, show up on time. Make sure your updates, questions or suggestions are relevant and aligned with their priorities. If you don’t have any items to discuss (should be rare ), reach out and suggest skipping the meeting to save them time. 

   • Always be prepared to provide status updates on your key projects.

6. Anticipate their questions and offer solutions. 

7. Make requests, not complaints. Show that you are solution oriented and be clear on what you need. For example, you can say: 

   • This is a problem I am seeing.. (describe the problem)

   • It’s a problem because.. (explain why it’s a problem and why it’s important)

   • Here is a solution I propose.. (describe your solution)

8. Over communicate.

9. Think how you can make your managers / key stakeholders look good.

10. Think beyond your own projects.

Enjoy the process, and good luck!

P.s. #1 I’d love to hear from you. Please let me know if you find this post useful and if it helped you with your day to day at work or to get your next promotion. 😉

P.s. #2 If you enjoy my newsletter so far, please share with a friend, colleague, your team, or anyone who might find it useful, thank you! 🙌