Managing Up: How Middle Managers Can Effectively Communicate with Senior Leadership

Communicating with senior leaders is difficult for many middle managers. They face unique challenges communicating upward: they need to balance the needs of their team with management’s strategic objectives, demonstrate ambition without threatening their superiors, and find ways to understand — and speak to — senior leaders’ values and agendas.

Ineffective middle managers also tend to delay sharing bad news with senior leaders. While difficult conversations can be nerve-inducing, senior leaders demand full transparency.

According to Michael McCarthy, instructor at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, keynote speaker, and host of the “Happy at Work” podcast, “All leaders know is what you tell them, and if they think you’re withholding information, they’ll never forget that.”

Navigating these communication challenges can be tricky, but middle managers can adopt strategies to become more effective upward communicators by alerting senior leaders about problems early, aligning their communication with leadership’s goals, and pushing back when necessary.

Fortunately, these communication skills can be learned and developed; anyone can become a better communicator with practice and a commitment to improvement.

What Is the Role of Middle Management, and Why Is It Important?

Middle managers play an important role in ensuring that a company or organization is well-aligned, efficient, and functioning effectively. McCarthy compares the most effective middle managers to “your favorite teacher growing up.”

The teachers — and managers — translate information in a way others can understand, coach them towards success, and act as a bridge between what’s happening day-to-day and the larger vision.

The four key responsibilities of middle management are:

1. Translating strategy into team objectives
2. Coaching and developing employees
3. Allocating resources and prioritizing tasks
4. Acting as liaisons between executives and frontline staff

Team objectives

McCarthy says middle managers must turn upper leadership’s strategy into actionable steps for teams to accomplish.

Developing employees

Coaching and development is especially important to Gen Z employees, because they are enthusiastic about growing McCarthy says.

Allocating resources

“Allocating resources and prioritizing tasks means making sure that people aren’t just given a deliverable and a deadline with no idea where to go,” says McCarthy. “You need to tell them what’s first, second, and third.”

Liaising between levels

Middle managers act as the “glue” between executives and frontline staff, or individual contributors. By communicating with clarity, they help senior leaders to make informed decisions.

Communication is your magic as a middle manager. You get credibility, promotions, and stronger engagement — all from being a great communicator.

Michael McCarthy

What Challenges Do Middle Managers Face?

Middle managers are often caught between two groups — senior leadership and their team — that each have different goals and values. Finding ways to bring these two groups into alignment can be difficult.

Some of the biggest challenges include:

• Balancing executives and the team. Leadership wants to increase revenue by 8 percent, the team needs more people to make it happen, and the middle manager is stuck in between.
  
  “I call it ‘the squeeze,’” McCarthy says. “You’re trying to make everyone happy, but it’s often not aligned.” 

• Juggling conflicting directives. McCarthy described a situation he experienced working for a major car brand. “They 10 ten senior vice presidents and 50 directors. The CEO would say one thing, but the SVPs would go against him and say something else to the directors.”
  
  Because of this lack of communication, directors were getting information from their direct superiors, the SVPs, that conflicted with the CEO’s agenda. Different information from multiple stakeholders adds unnecessary complications.

• Building trust with senior executives. The senior leadership team must have trust in middle managers, but most managers don’t have a lot of visibility with executives.
  
  “Middle managers don’t get a lot of face-time with senior leaders,” McCarthy says. “It’s hard to trust someone you don’t really know.”

• Managing stress. Middle managers are under a lot of pressure. They need to meet KPIs and push projects forward — even when they disagree with the approach, or weren’t consulted on the implementation strategy. They also need to keep employees engaged through empathic communication and authenticity. Often, these two tasks are at odds with each other, leading to significant stress.

What Is Managing Up?

Managing up in the workplace means taking a proactive approach to relationships with senior leaders. Those who successfully manage up approach their relationship with their boss with good intentions; their goal is to help their boss and make them “look good” to their boss or to the board.

“Managing up is not manipulating up,” McCarthy says, clarifying a common misconception. “It’s coming from a good place.”

“It’s about making sure your boss’ career is on an upward trajectory as well,” he adds.

There are four key ways middle managers can manage up:

1. Anticipate their boss’ needs. Understanding what your boss needs to do a good job — and giving it to them — is key to managing up. One way to anticipate their needs? “Give them information before they ask for it,” McCarthy says. 

2. Translate team updates into business outcomes. While it might be nice to know that an individual employee is growing into a top-performing SDR, senior leaders are more likely to be interested in their closed/won numbers and how your team is contributing to revenue.

3. Adopt their communication style. Every leader has a preferred communication style. Some like lengthy, wordy emails — others prefer bullet point updates or a face-to-face meeting.
   
   “I remember when I worked as a trader, I had a boss who started every meeting with the numbers, what the S&P was doing, the Dow,” McCarthy recalls. “So every time he called me, I’d start with a market quote.”

4. Bring solutions — not just problems. Often, middle managers approach senior leaders with problems: a project is off-schedule, they need more people, or require budget for new tech. One of the best ways to manage up is to present a solution when raising issues. 
   
   “Try to give them two solutions, so they can choose,” McCarthy says. “When you raise issues, you’re giving clarity and transparency, which is important for trust. But you also don’t want to be someone who only comes to them with problems. Bring solutions.”

The Importance of Communication Skills for Middle Managers

To successfully manage up, middle managers need sharp communication skills. They need to raise issues thoughtfully, understand and adopt their boss’ communication style, and identify ways to talk about team success in terms of business objectives. 

“Communication is your magic as a middle manager,” McCarthy says. “You get credibility, promotions, and stronger engagement — all from being a great communicator.”

Strong communication skills support:

• Organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Middle managers are responsible for communicating strategy and execution to the team.
  
  “You would be surprised how many people don’t understand what the strategy is, or why it is the way it is,” McCarthy says.
  
  They also need to operationalize the strategy, create tasks, and point out misalignments early. Strong communication skills help share the strategy with their team, ask questions for clarification, and resolve any potential problems up the chain.

• Healthy relationships. Middle managers can increase their employees’ engagement by building strong relationships. Excellent communication skills are the bedrock of good employee dynamics in all directions.
  
  “Get your people to feel like you’re on their side, that you care about them and want them to do well,” McCarthy says.

• Trust. Good communicators build trust by letting senior leaders know about problems early.
  
  “If your boss feels blindsided, they’ll lose trust in you and you’ll lose opportunities to advance,” McCarthy says.
  
  As uncomfortable as it can be, communicating issues well in advance gives senior leaders time to prepare or shift their strategy. Middle managers who can alert leaders to problems early win their trust.

McCarthy shared an example of how one middle manager used their communication skills at a critical moment for their organization. He was consulting for a global automobile company that was in difficult financial waters and close to bankruptcy. 

The team was being pushed to work harder and in one of the divisions, a team member approached the head of the division for clarity. 

“She wanted to know when things were going to get better, how long she was going to be working so much harder,” says McCarthy.

The head of the division didn’t know.

“He was honest with her,” McCarthy says. “He said, ‘I don’t have any information you don’t have. I can’t predict anything. I can’t promise you there’s a rainbow at the end of this, because I don’t know.’ And she was able to say, ‘Okay. I get it,’ because she got the truth. He was honest with her.”

What Are Some Effective Communication Strategies for Middle Managers?

The most effective strategies involve using empathy and communication skills to both understand and align with business goals.

These are some of the best communication strategies for middle managers:

• Speak in headlines. Senior leaders are juggling many competing priorities and issues. When communicating with them, get to the point right away.

• Use data. Data provides clarity. Middle managers who give leadership clear information earn their respect and appreciation.

• Frame updates in their values. Some leaders are concerned with revenue, others are laser-focused on risk. Center your updates around whatever outcome or topic is most important to your boss.

• Flag problems early. Senior leaders hate being blindsided. Alert them to issues in a timely and straightforward manner, and avoid assigning blame.

• Match their style. Senior leaders have different communication styles. Some ramble and tell stories, others want “just the facts.” Middle managers who match their senior leader’s communication style build rapport and trust.

• Confirm in writing. Confirm via email anything critical that was decided in a meeting. A clear paper-trail with leadership’s sign-off, approval, or direction will support you in the future.

• Ask for feedback. Senior leaders are busy. Feedback may not be something they offer freely, but it’s critical for middle managers to understand where to focus their efforts. Asking for feedback demonstrates a high level of career involvement and a willingness to improve. 

Like communication, managing up is a skill that can be learned. Middle managers can improve their ability to manage up by enrolling in a program, like Harvard Professional & Executive Development’s new Managing Up program. 

Managing Up — Enroll Today

Managing Up: Strategies for Successful Collaboration was created to support mid-career professionals by helping them learn how to successfully navigate relationships with senior leadership to gain greater visibility and win support for their projects and objectives.

Course participants will explore both high-level frameworks and practical tactics to manage upward relationships with credibility. 

This course will show participants how to:

• Decode Leadership Priorities: read between the lines to understand and adapt to leadership’s goals, decision-making style, and communication preferences.

• Build Strategic Alignment: position your team and your contributions to support larger enterprise-wide engagements.

• Leverage Consiglieres: build relationships with advisors your manager trusts to win their support and access critical resources.

• Establish Trust: learn and explore the building blocks of trust — credibility, reliability, adaptability, and transparency.

• Network Internally for Influence: strengthen cross-functional relationships to expand your organizational influence.

Ready to learn more or sign up? Register for Managing Up: Strategies for Successful Collaboration.