Reduce your manager's cognitive load by proposing solutions instead of just problems. Thinking strategically about what your boss needs, not just what you need, makes you more valuable and accelerates your career.
When you just ask your manager, Hey, manager, what should we do? You're putting a lot of cognitive load on your manager to need to think about the problem, think about potential solutions, craft the solution, and then tell you what to do. Whereas if you instead said, Hey, manager, here's what I think we should do. How does that sound? Where do you see gaps? Am I thinking in the right direction? You give them something to build off of, and that reduces the amount of mental lift that they have to put forth. sharing your point of view more readily, backing it up with evidence. That's a wonderful way of making your manager's life easier. And also showing that you are an active, rigorous thinker who is thinking strategically about the business. You're not just waiting to be told what to do. You're not expecting them to figure things out and then tell you. You are actively looking around the corner, trying to solve problems, forming hypotheses in your mind, observing and noticing things. And this is something that even junior people Managing up is one of those skills that if you invest in learning it, it serves you now and for the rest of your career.
