Welcome to Work Tip Wednesday, where every Wednesday I get ready and share one lesson I've learned about career, leadership, and success from working at some of the world's biggest brands.
For years I assumed that if I did great work, my manager would naturally know what I was working on, where I needed support, and what I wanted next. Then I started reporting to a CEO. A CEO has an enormous amount going on, and most managers, at every level, are carrying more than they can track at any given moment. Part of your job is to make it easier for them to support you.
The Real Challenge
Most people manage up reactively. They do the work, answer questions when questions come, and assume their manager is keeping a running picture of their progress, their blockers, and their ambitions. A busy manager usually is not, because they do not have the bandwidth to pull that picture out of you. What they can see is whatever you make easy to see.
That is the shift. When you accept that your manager is stretched thin, your job stops being to report to them and starts being to reduce the effort it takes for them to help you. The two moves below do exactly that. One makes your updates easier to act on. The other removes the guesswork about what you need.
1. Bring a Recommendation, Don't Just Report the News
One of my favorite bosses used to say "don't report the news." He meant that narrating the status of a project puts all the work of deciding what to do about it back on the person you are updating. A busy manager does not have time to take your raw status and generate the next move from scratch.
So bring the recommendation with you. Instead of "Here's where the project stands," try: "Here's what's happening, here's the decision we need to make, and here's what I recommend." You are still giving them the full picture, and you are also handing them something they can react to in seconds. A stretched manager can approve, adjust, or redirect a clear recommendation quickly, where a bare status update leaves them with homework.
This holds even when you are not certain you are right. Giving your manager a starting point to push against is usually more useful than asking them to supply the answer, because reacting is faster than originating, and it keeps you in the seat of the person driving the work rather than the person waiting to be told what to do with it.
2. Be Clear About What You Need From Them
The second move is to stop assuming your manager knows what you need or want. Most of the time they do not, and they are not going to interrogate you to find out. If you need a decision, an introduction, air cover, or a stretch assignment, say so directly.
When you are not sure what to ask for, use the work itself to open the conversation. Something like: "Here's what I'm currently focused on, based on our priorities. Is this aligned with what you need?" That single question does a lot of quiet work. It confirms you are pointed at the right things before you spend three weeks on the wrong priority. It gives your manager an easy opening to redirect you or add support. And it signals that you think in terms of their priorities, which is one of the clearest markers of someone ready for more responsibility.
The habit to build is checking in on direction on purpose, rather than discovering in a review that you were rowing hard in a direction your manager had quietly moved on from.
The Bottom Line
Managing your manager comes down to making yourself easy to support. Bring recommendations they can react to instead of status updates they have to process, and be clear about what you need and whether you are still aligned. You are giving a busy person the information and clarity it takes to actually help you, and most managers will meet you there. That is how the relationship with the person who most affects your growth starts working in your favor.
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Jeanelle Teves is the Chief Commercial Officer at Bugaboo and founder of Work Lunch. She teaches communication, presence, and strategic leadership for ambitious professionals.
