Managing Up: The Skill That Changes Everything at Work

Use these strategies to gain more respect, influence, and opportunity from the people in charge.

Despite all the talk about “office families” and flat organizations, the workplace is still very much a hierarchy. Most of us have a boss, and though we can pretend otherwise, navigating that relationship is often stressful and disempowering. Is it possible to thrive on the job without resorting to constant schmoozing or sucking up?

Maybe so. Human behavior professor and executive coach Melody Wilding helps her clients crack the code on managing up—understanding the psychology of decision-makers, mastering key interactions, and subtly reshaping how they’re perceived at work. Below, she shares the key insights from her method: