Why Smart People Are Bad at Managing Up (And Don’t Realise It)
Part 2: Managing Up Series
Let’s start with something mildly irritating and deeply unfair...but FACTS.
The people who are often the worst at managing up are usually the ones who are the best at their jobs.
Not the slackers. Or the chaos merchants.
The competent, reliable, effective folks getting shit done, hitting KPI’s out of the park with no fuss, no drama, no angst.
The problem isn’t ability or effort.
It’s assumptions.
Why Smart People Struggle with Managing Up
Smart people tend to operate on a set of beliefs that are a) completely reasonable b) very noble and c) entirely admirable.
Stuff like:
If I do good work, it’ll be obvious
If I solve the problem that’s what matters
If I’m reliable, people will notice
Also... completely wrong on planet corporate. Apologies for ruining that for you.
Blindspot #1: “My work should speak for itself” (yeah, nah)
The idealist in us wants to believe in first principles. That good work naturally rises to the top, gets recognised and gently ushers you into your Bigger Opportunity Era™.
Because of that, most smart people optimise for doing the work really well, when what they should be optimising for is making sure the work actually lands well.
They’re not the same thing.
You’re Optimising for the Wrong Thing
Because if you’re optimising for doing the work really well, you’re spending your time getting the detail right, solving the problem properly, making sure it’s technically sound. Which..great. That’s your job.
But you’re not spending your time on the things that actually make the work land.
Like:
making the point obvious instead of making your boss search for your point
connecting it to what your boss actually cares about- risk, revenue, budget etc
being clear on what decision or action it’s driving
framing it so it’s easy to explain to someone else.
That’s the bit most people skip. Because they assume: my boss knows what I’m doing.
They don’t.
They know a version of it. A lower resolution version.
Your Boss Doesn’t Experience Your Work the Way You Do
What your boss experiences of your work is in fact very different.
It’s fragments:
a headline
summaries of it
whatever they can remember five minutes later
They’re not tracking your work in detail. They’re remembering whatever was easiest to grasp in the moment.
So what feels clear to you… doesn’t land clearly for them. Not if you’ve skipped the behaviours that create that clarity.
Your Work Doesn’t Speak for Itself
That’s the gap. And more often, the friction.
Your work doesn’t get judged in full. It gets judged in the version your boss carries around in their head. And that version is whatever your boss walked away able to
understand quickly
remember later
repeat confidently.
That’s what “landing well” actually looks like. And if it doesn’t do that, then your work doesn’t quite exist in the way you think it does.
This is why “good work” doesn’t always convert to career rewards like growth, pay or being seen as “strategic”, “high potential” or “ready for more”.
Because your career isn’t built on what you did. It’s built on what your boss can confidently say you did. Which means your work doesn’t speak for itself- it gets paraphrased. And managing up is making sure that paraphrase isn’t wrong.
Mildly inconvenient… because if you’re serious about your career… it means you have to do something about it.
Next up: We’ll get into that next in Part 3 of our Managing Up Series: 3 Tips for Managing Up: What it Looks Like in Practice.
Your boss isn’t confusing.
You’re just not fluent yet.
Boss Whispering 101 shows how to decode what they actually mean, survive the Friday 4:57pm priority pivot and say things in a way that gets traction not just polite nods.