$499
Managing Upwards: Boss Whispering 101
Unfortunately, corporates insist on involving other people in your career progression.
Which means you might be killing it with your team, but if your boss and their boss aren’t sold on you, your career’s going nowhere fast.
In this course, we’ll teach you the art of boss whispering: how to handle senior leaders, get buy-in and understand what leadership actually cares about.
We’ll cover shifting priorities, vague feedback, expectation management and communicating in ways that don’t create confusion, chaos or a one-way ticket to professional irrelevance. Plus the deeply important skill of getting your ideas funded without executives reacting like you’ve suggested setting money on fire recreationally.
Basically: how to stop accidentally making yourself harder to promote. (And like.)
Think of it as the unofficial explanation for how careers actually work once other people, politics and Chad become involved.
Opens October 2026
5 x Modules
1 x Q&A
Limited Spots!
Boss Mastery : How Careers Actually Work
Most leadership courses teach you how to build a great team. Cute. Necessary. But not sufficient.
Because corporates are not meritocracies. Which means your career isn’t decided by the people who report to you. It’s decided by the people above you.
And when you don’t manage up:
Your work gets…creatively misinterpreted.
You’re sprinting hard…but often in the wrong direction.
Your name mysteriously doesn’t come up…when opportunities do.
You become reliable…not “next in line”.
You can do great work, deliver consistently and still watch Chad develop deeply confusing amounts of career momentum. That’s the cost of leaving managing up to luck, crossed fingers and voodoo dolls.
Unfortunately, your manager can’t champion value they vaguely remember between back to back meetings, customer churn figures and dealing with a CFO who experiences emotional distress every time someone says “brand investment”.
What You’ll Learn
Decoding Boss Speak: Learn to translate cryptic one line emails, vague feedback and “quick requests” that arrive late on Friday with suspicious emotional energy.
Navigating the Feedback Maze: Learn how to tell the difference between genuinely useful feedback, vague corporate projection and someone having a stressful Tuesday. Then respond without setting things on fire or writing a five paragraph defensive essay.
Comms Without Accidentally Causing Problems: Get better at summarising clearly, escalating strategically and avoiding the kind of over explaining that makes senior leaders visibly age in meetings.
Managing Expectations: Learn how to push back without sounding difficult, survive priorities that change mid sentence and avoid interpreting every new request as if they’re acts of psychological warfare.
Building Your Influence: Learn why good ideas alone don’t get funded, approved or prioritised and how to stop pitching ideas the way you’d explain them to your peers instead of the people funding them.
The most important and under appreciated skill in your career may be learning how to manage up.
It’s a critical factor in getting ahead in your career.
Meet me, JB
(Otherwise known as Julie Byrne)
I’ve spent the last two decades in the marketing and digital trenches, from scrappy tech startups to global heavyweights like Autonomy, Vodafone, BUPA, Microsoft and ResMed.
I haven’t just talked the talk. I’ve lived the targets, survived death by back to back meetings and sat through more “quick chat?” invites than any human should reasonably be subjected to. (They’re never quick and rarely chats.)
I cut my teeth at Autonomy in the UK, jumping from Marketing Executive to European Marcomms Manager in eight months. Back in Australia, I landed a General Manager gig at Vodafone at 29, then went on to lead digital marketing at BUPA, step into a regional role at Microsoft running Microsoft Stores across APAC and then global with medtech giant ResMed, overseeing their digital ecosystem worldwide.
Since 2018, I’ve been doing my own thing, elbow-deep in coaching, consulting, strategy and transformation work for everyone from big corporates to fast moving small businesses including ENGIE, Craveable Brands and SoundScouts.
In other words, I’ve seen how this game works from just about every angle, including the parts that never make it onto the shiny careers pages. Which also means I’ve seen exactly where smart, capable people start to trip over the stuff nobody ever teaches you.
And after seeing that play out again and again, it became painfully obvious that practical training and real mentorship for new and mid-level managers is weirdly hard to find.
There’s theory aplenty, but not much in the way of here’s what to actually do on Tuesday and without the charisma of a 2009 compliance module.
So that’s the gap I fill. No BS, hands on training and straightforward coaching from someone who’s been in the room, made the calls and can tell you exactly where capable people start to come off the rails.
Managing Upwards: Boss Whispering 101
Stop hoping they’ll figure you out. Start speaking boss.
$499 (AUD)
Your Questions Answered
-
Managing Upwards: Boss Whispering 101 runs for six weeks, with new content ( one content module) dropping each week. You’ll dive into the material via our members only area.
Here’s what you’ll find in each module:
Training videos
Worksheets/ checklists and downloadable DIY templates.
Plus you’ll also get access to:
A 1.5 hour Live Q&A call
A recording of Q&A call
The Q&A call is optional, but a great way to get extra support and answers to your burning questions.
-
Absolutely! The course spans 6 weeks with email prompts to guide you through it and stay on track, but you’re free to take it at your own pace. I’ve got you covered with a whole years access to all the materials, just in case life throws you a curveball.
The live Q&A happens near the end of the course. Can’t make it? No worries- it’ll be recorded and added to the course library for you to catch up on later.
-
The first module will open during October 2026.
-
If you miss this round, then the course will launch again in February 2027.
-
No hard feelings. If it’s not hitting the mark for you, just request a refund in writing within 7 days of the course starting, provided you haven’t progressed beyond the first module.
After those 7 days, refunds aren’t available and we don’t offer partial refunds for partially completed courses or programs.
-
The Managing Up: Boss Whispering 101 course is run by me, Julie Byrne. I’m a marketing and digital veteran of two decades with experience in all things marketing, digital and leadership. Based in Sydney, Australia, I’ve worked with tech startups and global giants such as Autonomy, Vodafone, BUPA, Microsoft, ResMed and ENGIE. And I’ve helped countless small businesses to improve their bottom lines and marketing teams through coaching, strategy work and transformation projects.
-
We hold one official live Q&A call during the course usually scheduled for 1pm or 6pm Sydney (AEST) time, on either Tuesday’s, Wednesdays or Thursday’s. You’ll receive the date for the scheduled call in the course introduction.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Platform: We use Zoom. Instructions on how to set it up will be on the Q&A call page.
Format: Julie will tackle up to 20 pre-submitted questions per call. You can submit a maximum of two questions per person. Questions already covered in the FAQ won’t be addressed.
Recording: The Q&A call will be recorded and added to the course library within 24-48 hours.
-
Nope. All questions relating to the course need to be submitted through the course’s question page. Group Q&A calls are designed to benefit everyone by giving everyone the chance to learn from others questions and experiences and JB’s deep dive answers. JB won’t be handling private emails or phone calls about course-related questions.
-
Once you’ve paid, you’ll register and get access to our membership portal. Content will be released weekly starting from the course start date.
-
Absolutely! The course is designed for English speakers worldwide. In the examples used, the principles apply universally versus just being Australian centric. We aim to schedule Q&A calls so that they suit students in Europe and America as well.
-
Set aside 2 hours per week for course activities including watching training videos, reading and doing worksheets and joining in the Q&A call. This doesn’t include the time needed for applying what you learn, which varies based on your needs. With a years access, you can revisit materials as often as you like.
-
You’ll have access to all course materials and the Q&A recording for a full year.
-
For details on terms, conditions and your rights that apply to your purchase, check out the terms and conditions page.
-
Course Changes, Cancellation & Refund Policy
If you wish to cancel your course registration, you must notify Mentorish in writing.
Cancellations received 14 days or more before the scheduled course start date will be eligible for a refund of the course fee, less an administration fee of $200.
Cancellations received less than 14 days before the course start date are not eligible for a refund.
If you are unable to attend the course, no refund is payable. However, at our discretion, we may agree to transfer your registration to another participant or future course date.
Mentorish reserves the right to change course dates, presenters, program content or delivery format where necessary. If a course is cancelled by us, we will offer you an alternative course date where possible. If no suitable alternative is available or you choose not to attend the alternative offered, you will receive a full refund of the course fee.
7 Day Course Satisfaction guarantee
If you begin a course and decide it is not suitable for you, you may request a refund within 7 days of the course start date, provided you have not progressed beyond the first module of the program.
Refund requests must be submitted in writing to Mentorish within this timeframe.
After the 7 day period refunds will not be available and we do not offer partial refunds for partially completed courses or programs.
Refunds may also be declined if a substantial portion of the course content has been accessed or downloaded.
Trusted By
COURSE OPENS SOON
$499 (AUD)
Displayed Price includes GST where applicable.Curious about the cost in your currency?