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🔬🧪Managing Up: Influence Isn’t Flattery—it’s Alignment

November 14, 2025

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💡SKILLS SPOTLIGHT
👀Managing Up: Influence Isn’t Flattery—it’s Alignment

Here’s a career truth most people don’t talk about enough:
Success in STEM isn’t just about your technical skill—it’s about how well you manage up.

And no, that doesn’t mean being a “yes” person or trying to impress your boss. It means building alignment—understanding what matters most to your leaders, anticipating their needs, and communicating in a way that builds trust.

The result? More influence. More autonomy. More visibility.

Why Managing Up Matters

Even the best leaders rely on their teams for insight. When you make your manager’s job easier, you’re not just helping them—you’re demonstrating leadership yourself.

Managing up is one of the most overlooked career accelerators because it strengthens three things at once:
1️⃣ Communication – you learn how to tailor your message to different audiences.
2️⃣ Strategic Thinking – you focus on what drives business goals, not just tasks.
3️⃣ Trust – you show that you understand and support the bigger picture.

3 Ways to Manage Up Effectively

1. Anticipate needs before they’re asked.
Don’t wait for your manager to assign every task—proactively identify what’s coming next. In fast-moving STEM environments, this signals initiative and reliability.

2. Communicate proactively (no surprises).
A quick update—especially when something shifts—shows ownership. Leaders don’t want perfection; they want awareness.

3. Bring solutions, not just problems.
If something isn’t working, pair your concern with a proposed next step. Even if it’s not perfect, it turns you from a problem-spotter into a problem-solver.

Influence isn’t about flattery—it’s about alignment.

When you understand what drives your leaders, your work—and your ideas—carry more weight.

Bonus: In your next 1:1, try one “managing up” strategy: anticipate, communicate, or offer a solution. Then hit reply and let me know how it went.