Managing Up in the Moment

Hi there, I'm Ben Morton and welcome to the Leaders Kit Bag, your go to podcast for practical leadership insights. In just six minutes in each episode, we tackle real challenges faced by leaders and managers, offering actionable tools and strategies you can take away and immediately apply. And because leadership doesn't happen in a studio, there's these episodes are mostly recorded outside on the move. They're raw, unscripted and straight to the point. So wherever you are, let's dive in and sharpen your leadership skills six minutes at a time. Regardless of whether you have an absolutely amazing boss or a terrible one, there will still be times when we need to reactively challenge up because the demands and pressure being put on you and your team are unachievable. And that is exactly what we're going to talk about in today's episode of the Leader's Kit Bag. Here are three tips to help you manage upwards when you are forced to react when there is pressure being put upon you and your team as a result of objectives or tasks that you really can't deliver, or simply when you need to speak truth to power. Number one is to challenge upwards with respect early. If the demands being placed upon you and your team really aren't achievable, then it's best to check challenge early and flag these issues as soon as possible. No leader likes to be informed of delays or challenges days or weeks down the line, so the sooner you raise your concerns the better. And you can simply do that in a constructive way by saying things like, with our current capacity, this may not all be achievable. Can we please discuss some options? It's simple, it's straightforward, and you are framing the challenge in a constructive manner. The second tip is to clarify ambiguity with precision. If we are not clear as a leader on what we are being asked to do, that confusion is only going to be amplified when we then delegate tasks down to our team. That means it is absolutely on us to seek out the clarity we need when our boss isn't being clear. And we can do this by simply asking some better clarifying questions ourselves. For example, that might be Ben, when you say fix it, what exactly do you mean? Or Ben, when you say by the end of the year, do you mean the calendar year or the financial year? When we get clear on what it is we're being asked to do, we can pass that clarity down to our team, deliver what it is that our boss wants first time round, instead of adding to their frustration. Because, let's face it, even if it's them that wasn't clear, it's us that will end up picking up the pieces and doing the extra work to rectify it. The third and final tip I have for you is is to explain the trade offs and ask for clarity again around priorities. For example, if what you are being asked to achieve once again really isn't achievable, you might simply say something like with our current capacity, can you please help me and the team clarify the things that we absolutely must be prioritise and in order to do that, the things that we can deprioritize? Or it might be around asking for some clarity around the acceptable trade offs. So in this situation you might say something like okay Ben, in order to deliver this project to the standard you're asking for, can you help me understand where it might be possible which other projects where we can reduce the scope or reduce standards in order to deliver this to the standard you're hoping for? So there you have it. Three tips to help you when you need to reactively respond to your boss or speak truth to power. If you're getting value from these Leaders Kit Bag videos and podcasts, then please visit my website@Ben Morton.com where you can sign up for the Leaders Kit Bag email where you get more tips and ideas and advice to help you be the best leader you can possibly be. That's it for this episode. Until next time. Look after yourself and those you've got the privilege and responsibility to lead. Lead on.