Cultivated Support is the Best Way to “Manage Up”
“You are the CEO of your own development and chief marketing officer of your personal brand.” So say Peter Coleman and Rob Ferguson write in their book Making Conflict Work. If your goal is to move up the ranks in your profession, you should always be looking for ways to further your development and get those above you to respect and trust you. The best way to achieve this is through Cultivated Support, a set of skills promoted in MCW. My favorite skill among the ten offered is “Don’t Bring One Problem; Bring Several Solutions.” In other words, think a problem all the way through to the point where you have some positive ideas to present to your boss. Don’t be the complainer, be the problem-solver. Complainers pull companies back. Problem-solvers push companies forward. Say to your boss, “I’ve been noticing a situation with X and have some ideas for how we might improve it. Would you be willing to listen to some of my thoughts?” For further reading on this, take a look at www,makingconflictwork.com. The following article also makes some strong suggestions.
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