DON’T MISS OUT ON OPPORTUNITIES.

If you have a boss then this will benefit you. 

This is one of those game-changing underrated skills that no one talks about. 

How you show up with leadership matters. Why?

• It impacts your ability to get into the “inner circle”. 

• It impacts your ability to get promoted. 

• It impacts your ability to get access. 

Learning this skill will eventually determine your “personal brand” within a company. 

I’m not talking about how you post or show up online. 

No no. I’m talking about how you’re perceived by leadership and peers at your company.

So the question becomes - how do you build this skill? 

How Do You Build This Skill
I learned these lessons the hard way. 

The first thing to do is to stop holding your execs to a “perfection standard”. 

We spend so much time thinking execs can do anything and everything and we couldn’t be further from the truth. 

The reality is that execs are human and we need to treat them as such.

Now that we’ve acknowledged that - I’ll cover a few areas where people manage up the WRONG WAY.

1. Tell them (your boss) they’re wrong - don’t do this without reading below. There are correct ways to do this.

2. Saying No - no without context, alternatives or flexibility won’t go over well either. 

3. Making them look bad - Look I get it. We’ve all had bosses we didn’t like. It’s never a good idea to make your boss look bad. I know this is easier said than done. 

4. Blaming Leaders - this is the easiest way to cop out of a situation and look like the bad person without even knowing it. You don’t want this to be your rep when you’re up for a promotion or raise.

5. Not Following Through - The reality is sometimes we don’t do things that our boss asks us and eventually, they stop trusting us with things. You never want to have a bad reputation here because it impacts your external brand as much as it does your internal one. 

Now that you know what NOT to do here’s how you win them over. . 

What Do They Care About?

Leaders care about 3 things. Master these in every touchpoint and you’ll be winning over your leadership in no time. 

1. Results

2. Speed

3. Their Involvement/Credit (everybody wants to look good)

When did you last ask your boss how you could help them? 

Or what pressures they were facing? 

MOST 1x1s (covered this last week) focus on you not your manager. 

Here’s a step-by-step list of how to win over your leadership:

1. Identify your boss’ top goals (not yours). 

2. See how you roll into those goals (there’s a reason you have the quota and territory that you do) 

3. Identify their insights gaps. What do they wish they knew more of? 

4. Identify their pressure points. Where are they getting the most pressure? 

Then you go and build this asset. I call it the weekly digest. 

Note - this is done outside of your 1x1. 

What are the general updates that you think would be valuable? 

What are you working on and how does it impact their goals?

What are you improving? 

Where are the wins and systemic learnings across the org?

Where are the blindspots that the leader isn’t seeing? This helps them avoid looking bad.

(PS - I have a full Weekly Digest template available to my SLA students - click here to learn more about that). 

Managing The Board

Okay. So let’s be real. Many of the pressures that come into an org stem from the board. This is why I’m so grateful for our partners at Clari. Their CEO, Andy Byrne put together this playbook that executives can use to turn board meetings from anxious/operational interactions to strategic discussions that get you results. 

Inside you'll find: 

• Preparation: Why the meetings between the big meeting matter (and how to make the most of them)

• Delivery: The three most common mistakes that will lower the value of your board meeting

• Follow-up: A proven follow-up framework to keep momentum post-meeting

Download the guide for free here. Trust me y’all you don’t want to miss out on this.

Until next week,