Leading Up

• opens up to a team member duties which are traditionally reserved for the boss, such as suggesting new strategy ideas or managing a project
• reverses the traditional idea of ‘feedback’; for example, a boss familiar with leading up would welcome being coached by one of their team on how they could more effectively convey their vision to employees and customers [2]
• encourages widespread change: leadership consultant John Baldoni suggests that a team member might push for a new product or introduce a new efficiency process as a way to do this [3]

This is different from ‘managing up’, although it is important to understand that both should have a positive impact. The aim of managing up is to create a strong working relationship with your boss by compensating for each other’s weaknesses and by learning how best to communicate as a team. The motivation for managing up is usually to create a better working environment and to advance your career. [4]

The aim of leading up, argues Michael Useem of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, is to help "a supervisor see the right goal and find the right path before it is too late". [5] Some employees may argue that it is not their job to do the work that their boss is paid for, but leading up is usually motivated by a desire to benefit the organization. Ultimately, this goal is in everyone’s interests.

In some situations, a team member may find that their boss is not receptive to leading up, but this should not stop them taking the initiative if they feel it is appropriate. Why? Because the long-term benefits to the organization outweigh the immediate negative consequences to the team member.

This is not to suggest, however, that leading up is a license to undermine the boss’s authority. Rather, leading up is a way to help the boss perform their job better. In fact, where leading up is most effective, it will likely be the boss who is positioned for success rather than the team member. [6]

The Benefits of Leading up

In Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win, Useem acknowledges the basic truth that it is rare for the individual at the top of a hierarchy to have a detailed knowledge of everything taking place across their entire area of responsibility. [7] In these organizations, leading up is an effective way to make the most of a team’s widespread skills and experience. Yet this is not the only benefit of upward leadership.

Avoid Failure

An organization which encourages leading up has a better chance of avoiding failure because the plans it forms are more robust. Useem offers the example of the United States Marine Corps, where an officer planning a military action will encourage their subordinates to point out any flaws that they can see. [8]

Initially, team members who are not familiar with leading up might find this practice difficult or awkward because they are not used to questioning their boss. However, an organization which invites criticism at an early stage can use the insight of experienced employees to avoid failure later.

"The trick is to say the hard stuff in a way that [the boss] can hear your message and be persuaded to make changes before it is too late" writes Antonioni. [9]

Develop Leadership

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."
Ralph Nader, political activist [10]

To ensure the long-term success of an organization, senior leaders need to develop their staff so that there is a talent pool of employees with the skills and experience necessary to replace them when they move on or retire. Leading up gives employees the opportunity to take the lead on important projects, build their credibility, gainconfidence and demonstrate their potential.

For example, if a new manager had just arrived from another country, one of their direct reports might lead up to them by coaching them on the organization’s culture and business practices. In this way, the team member would develop their leadership skills while the manager would be able to perform their role more effectively.

Leadership can be further developed when leading up takes hold across an entire organization. That is to say, team members who practice leading up should be willing to be ‘led up to’. They should ask their direct reports for feedback, just as they offer feedback to their boss. [11] In this way, effective downward and upward leadership reinforce each other to bring about widespread cultural change, with a focus on goals at the heart of every decision. [12]

Improve Engagement

Employees who have an input into decision-making and feel that their opinions are respected are far more likely to feel valued. This was identified by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skill’s MacLeod Review as one of the main drivers of employee engagement. [13]

Giving employees a voice, and listening to what they have to say, increases job satisfaction, improves motivation and brings employees together to work toward shared goals. A culture which encourages leading up also improves employee confidence, as they are able to share ideas and offer feedback without fear of repercussions.

The Dangers of Leading Up

"The subordinate's job is not to reform or reeducate the boss, not to make him conform to what the business schools or the management book say bosses should be like. It is to enable a particular boss to perform as a unique individual."
Peter Drucker [14]

Despite these benefits, it is important to be cautious when leading up. A boss who is unwilling to be led up to is unlikely to look favorably on any team member who points out a problem in their strategy or offers to help them lead more effectively. By trying to lead up, the team member may in fact damage their working relationship with their boss and create an unhealthy work environment.

It is important, therefore, that employees ensure that they only lead up when appropriate. The following questions will help assess this.

Are All the Facts Available?

The more senior a manager is, the more information they are likely to have at their disposal. There may be a reason that one strategy was implemented while another was abandoned which is not immediately clear to the wider team. [15]

A team member who thinks that they should lead up, but is not certain that they have all the relevant information, would be advised to speak to their boss if they feel comfortable doing so. If they do not feel comfortable, they could discuss their leadership idea with a trusted colleague to get a second opinion. It is important, however, not to speak negatively about the boss. Instead of saying: "they’re doing it wrong", say: "I think this way would work better".

Will Leading up Benefit the Organization?

Leading up is a practice which helps organizations operate more efficiently. If a single team member leads up to advance their own career, or because they are envious of their boss’s position and power, the consequences are unlikely to be positive for the rest of the team.

Instead, the team member should think about their motivation for taking the lead. If they are leading up to help the organization, or can point to a problem that they think others can solve, then leading up is more likely to be appropriate. In this way, they are supporting their boss rather than challenging them.

Are You Confident That Leading up Will Not Appear Political?

Sometimes, leading up can appear to be a challenge to authority, even when it is not meant to be. In this situation, a boss may become defensive, or dismissive, just to protect their status.

Similarly, where a team member is publicly rewarded for leading up, perhaps at the expense of their boss, the rest of the team may become suspicious of that individual’s future motives.

For this reason, it is advisable to lead up tactfully and in private. A quiet word with the boss can help them makes changes without losing face.

Leading up For The First Time

Even if all of these questions can be answered with confidence, it is important to be careful when leading up. Antonioni writes that: "Leading up requires prudent risks to influence your manager’s decisions in ways that benefit your organization’s stakeholders, customers, shareholders and employees." [16]

One of the best ways a team member can mitigate the risk of leading up is to discuss it first with their boss, to outline the benefits of leading up and address their concerns. This is, in itself, an example of leading up.

Antonioni adds that: "Learning to speak up in non-threatening and productive ways can reduce the likelihood of negative consequences." [17]

Conclusion

Leading up is unlikely to be a cultural fit at every organization across the world, but where established relationships between a boss and their team are open and honest it can be used to great success. It can create new opportunities for an organization and help avoid failures, but on a day-to-day basis it can also provide the foundation for a more effective team.

Ultimately, upward leadership should result in increased innovation, better collaboration, and a significant reduction in mistakes by offering helpful criticism to achieve shared goals.