Most managers get better at managing up in meetings as they become more experienced. This often comes at a very expensive cost as they lose credibility among their direct reports and departments. Some are perceived to be“yes men\women.” The larger the corporation the more likely this is to occur based on conversations with my fellow MBA students. This makes sense. The more people in an organization the more political it is likely is.

The delicious irony is that armies of yes managers\directors are often unlikely agents of change. They say yes but are unable to deliver it. Their employees worry their leaders are not looking out for their interests. As I mentioned in a previous post earning trust is hard. How many leaders\managers do you know  are renowned in their organization for championing their employee’s interests AND are perceived to enjoy support from their executive leaders? Please know, I don’t claim to have solved this dilemma myself. Middle management is tough! As I have said before the purpose of my blog is to share ideas, get feedback not to pretend that I have all the answers.

Most executives will tell you that they want to answer the “tough” questions to engage in meaningful dialogue. I don’t doubt the sincerity. The executives perceptions of their openness to feedback and the responses employees typically submit anonymously suggest a disconnect in this regard though. Why is it so hard to engage in a candid conversation with the people best able to help us? Senior leaders are typically time “poor” and have too many priorities to juggle. As a result that they rarely spend time with front line management. This is ironic given that managers are critical to executing the strategic direction. To make matters worse the main forum to raise your concerns as a manager is typically in “public” meetings. Sharing controversial feedback in this setting is risky. It is very easy to be perceived as negative even though this may not necessarily be your intent. In the interests of open dialogue I should say that I have been guilty of not being constructive in public meetings in the past. That said I have made a conscious effort to improve based on feedback I have received. I find many meetings banal. The content is important. The problem is that few people are willing to take the risk and really debate the issues with our leaders. My perception is that many employees feel the same way about their managers when I chat with people socially outside of work. This really hurts  organizations because a golden opportunity to align perspectives and come to a consensus on critical issues is lost. Dissent is patriotic even if it is not viewed that way in hierarchical organizations.

Why is this? To be fair it is VERY hard for leaders to strike a balance between showing a united front as a team and encouraging constructive debate. The general rule of thumb seems to be that whoever has the most senior title in the room is typically right. I think as leaders we need to urge, REALLY encourage colleagues, our leaders and employees to disagree with us in public and private. Employees are also guilty in this regard. Conflict before a decision is taken is a sign of strength on a management team not weakness. The key is to debate the issues and then make best efforts to support the decision even if you don’t agree with it 100%.

I realize this is a very “Irish” view of the world to some degree. I need to vary my style with colleagues from different cultures. For example, my wife is Taiwanese. This approach would not work well in Asian cultures. Respect for elders and those in more senior positions is much more important there. I have learned to “read” between the lines more with employees from  backgrounds from more hierarchical cultures. I ask more general questions to solicit feedback. This allows employees to share their observations indirectly without feeling like they are  challenging my authority. I don’t have a problem with disagreement.  Their world view is different though and must be respected.

Here are some strategies I use to be more effective in meetings with senior leaders:

1. Be curious: I read and try to engage in activities outside of work to bring external perspective to my work. I try to ask good questions based on what I learn. I think the MBA has been incredibly helpful in this regard. The materials I have learned have changed my perspective on business. 
2.  Be positive: While there are lots of challenges there are usually some wins to celebrate as well. Recognizing your peers sincerely at management meetings is usually really well received. There is a big difference between “sucking up” and being appreciative especially when your colleagues are involved. Exec’s love good news and your colleagues love recognition. Everyone’s a winner! 
3.  Bring solutions: It’s important to raise the tough issues. It’s even more important to have some suggestions on how to resolve them.
4.  Participate: Everyone has different styles and brings different talents to the table. You have to contribute at management meetings to be taken seriously. If you have nothing to say, what value do you bring? How many managers do you know who are anonymous to your executive team? If they are anonymous how can they effectively represent their employees? 
5.  Be prepared: Arm yourself with data when possible to back up your points. Our VP of R&D challenged us to be more effective in this regard this week. It’s a fair point. Any time you can back up qualitative analysis with quantitative data you are more likely to persuade others to your point of view.

As always if anyone has any thoughts or feedback they would like to share on this post I would appreciate hearing from you.