Managing Up: Creating a Partnership For Success Howard Schultz, MSW, LCSW

1. Managing Up: Creating a Partnership For Success Howard Schultz, MSW, LCSW

2. Who Is Howard Schultz? Howard Schultz is an accomplished executive with twenty-seven years of management expertise in: • Supervision—recruitment, training, and leadership of 350 employees; • Increasing Revenues—over $7 million of growth through new and expanded programs, services, sales, and entrepreneurial ventures; • Strategic Planning—development and management of comprehensive action plans; • Capital Development—managed, solicited and secured over $40 million in capital contributions, grants, endowment, and operating support; • Facility Construction and Management—programmed, developed, supervised construction, and managed collectively over 500,000 sq.ft. of single and multi-purpose facilities on multi-acre campuses; • Board Development—managed policy development, communications, resources and involvement of volunteer leadership; • Technological Innovation—researched, purchased, and trained staff on computers to increase productivity, achieve substantial cost savings, improve time management, and engage in new marketing opportunities. • Consultation-helping agencies deal with challenges, change and creative solutions.

3. We Will Focus On: • What is Managing Up? • Why is it good for the CEO and middle managers? • What do CEO’s think about their Number Two? • What are some obstacles to successfully Managing Up? • What are some assumptions about successfully Managing Up? • Defining compatible work styles • Some examples of successfully Managing Up • A checklist for managing your boss

4. Question: Who’s a CEO? Who’s a number 2? Who’s a middle manager not #2 Who’s not a manager?

5. What is Managing Up? The term 'managing your boss' means "the process of consciously working with your superior to obtain the best possible results for you, your boss, and the company." It does not refer to political maneuvering or apple polishing. 1 The concept of managing up is based on the premise that helping your boss or director do his or her job is one method for gaining help in carrying out the middle management job. 2 Effective Managing Up is based on the assumption that “HELPING THE BOSS TO DO GOOD” is a shared responsibility between the Number Two and the CEO 1. “Managing Your Boss”, Gabarro and Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 1986,2005 2. "Managing Up: Relationship Building Between Middle Management and Top Management", by Michael, J. Austin, PhD, Administration in Social Work, Vol. 12, 1988

6. What Are the CEO’s Expectations of the Number Two? What Exactly Is the Ideal Role for the Number Two · Partner or Assistant? Faithful sidekick or distant relative? Service Provider or Supervisor? Independent Professional or Yes Man? Insider or Outsider?

7. Choosing the right assistants can be a tricky choice for a manager

8. Managing Up can be defined in terms of the following components Advocating for the needs of subordinates Influencing company policy by proposing changes in how the organization functions Influencing product or program development by proposing strategies on how we should do things

9. Influencing management and providing constructive feedback by analyzing: • The organizational climate with respect to improving inter-departmental • communications and teambuilding The impact of the executive’s management style and actions on staff The need for recognition of outstanding staff work The changing nature of work life in order to foster maximum creativity and participation. How to successfully implement management’s directives and expectations Enhancing top management’s capacity to receive and utilize input from middle managers, and middle managers’ capacity to view the managing up process as enhancing their career development are essential components to mutual success.

10. Successful Managing Up is Based upon a number of assumptions: Middle managers and department heads need to continually seek to understand the cross pressures, context and role strains experienced by top execs. Perceiving the CEO as a human being who makes mistakes, who may have significant limitations as well as strengths, who has a managerial style which needs to be accurately assessed by the “Number Two”, who needs to be recognized and appreciated as much as anyone else in the organization, and who needs regular feedback (positive and negative) from his or her middle managers. Managing is not the exclusive property of MBA grads. At times we are all managers, and we are all support staff; managers have to roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches.

11. More Assumptions… • No doubt, some subordinates will resent that on top of all their other duties, they also need to take time and energy to manage their relationships with their bosses. • Such managers fail to realize the importance of this activity and how it can simplify their jobs by eliminating potentially severe problems. • Effective managersrecognize that this part of their work is legitimate. Seeing themselves as ultimately responsible for what they achieve in an organization, they know they need to establish and manage relationships with everyone on whom they depend, and that includes the boss.(Gabbaro and Kotter)

12. Based upon these assumptions… • What are the top 3 traits or skills most desirable in a Number Two • What are the 3 least desirable or problematic traits in a Number Two.

13. Questions for the CEO About Their Number Two 1)How threatened do I feel or should I feel about the Number Two? 2)Do I value feedback and what kind do I encourage or accept? 3)Does our staff structure help or hinder the relationship between the Number Two and me? What structures would help advance the relationship? What hinders it? 4) What role assumed by, or assigned to the Number Two will make me a more effective CEO?

14. Questions for the CEO About Their Number Two 5)How does my assessment of the Number Two’s capabilities affect my ability to receive input from the managing up process? 6) How much access does the Number Two have to “my” board leadership? 7)How much time do I want to invest in receiving input from the managing up process? 8)How much do I encourage managing up? 9) How much do I want to invest in the Number Two’s professional growth and leadership , knowing that this may lead to his/her desire to seek a higher position elsewhere (quicker)?

15. Investing Time To Train Managers To Be Leaders

16. What are some obstacles that would prevent a CEO from accepting or allowing successful managing up?

17. A Partial List of Obstacles to the CEO accepting managing up: The CEO feeling threatened by talented Number Two’s.—perceived competition Prior poor experience by the CEO in receiving input from subordinates The CEO having been disappointed or betrayed in the past by subordinates The CEO feeling vulnerable at the agency Unwillingness of the CEO to address his or her own “blind spots” The CEO feeling isolated or alone within the organization The CEO feeling overloaded by the range of issues needing attention and therefore not being willing/able to commit the time necessary to managing up. The CEO fostering a demeanor or professional style that can impede or discourage feedback from subordinates The structure of the agency may serve to keep the CEO isolated in a position whereby few people have direct contact. The existence by the CEO of “intimidation rituals” towards subordinates Nullification, isolation, defamation, expulsion Inability of the Number Two to handle the responsibility incumbent in managing up

18. The existence of “shared madness”, an environment whereby both the CEO and Number Two have lost touch with the reality of what’s happening at the company

19. More Obstacles to CEO Acceptance • Failure of the Number Two to see how the CEO needs help and cooperation in order to do his/her job effectively. • Managing the flow of information upward is particularly difficult if the boss does not like to hear about problems. • Although many people would deny it, bosses often give off signals that they want to hear only good news. They show great displeasure--usually nonverbally- when someone tells them about a problem. Ignoring individual achievement, they may even evaluate more favorably subordinates who do not bring problems to them. Nevertheless, for the good of the organization, the boss, and thesubordinate, a superior needs to hear about failures as well as success.(Gabarro and Kotter)

20. More Rules forNumber 2 • It is common for the CEO to need more information than the Number Two would naturally supply, or for the Number Two to assume that the CEO knows more than may be the case…. • Therefore, regular informal discussions provide the Number Two with an opportunity to display dependability and honesty while seeking to make the best use of the CEO’s time and not reducing the Number Two’s credibility by raising relatively trivial issues. Subordinates can adjust their styles in response to their bosses' preferred method for receiving information. Some supervisors spell out their expectations very explicitly. But most do not. Ultimately, the burden falls on the subordinate to find out what the boss's expectations are

21. The Need for Compatible Work Styles: • Acquiring a thorough understanding of each others’ strengths, weaknesses, styles and needs • The Number Two needs to know whether or not the CEO is a reader or a listener. • The Number Two needs to know whether the CEO is a high involvement exec or a delegating exec. • At a minimum, you need to appreciate your boss's goals and pressures. Without this information, you are flying blind, and problems are inevitable. • Some people behave as if their bosses were not very dependent on them. They fail to see how much the boss needs their help and cooperation to do his or her job effectively. • Some people see themselves as not very dependent on their bosses. They gloss over how much help and information they need from the boss in order to perform their own jobs well. • Many managers assume that the boss will magically know what information or help their subordinates need and provide it to them.

22. Creating a compatible relationship also involves drawing on each other's strengths and making up for each other's weaknesses. Adjust to the CEO’s decision-making style: Some bosses prefer to be involved in decisions and problems as they arise. These are high-involvement managers who like to keep their hands on the pulse of the operation. Usually their needs (and your own) are best satisfied if you touch base with them on an ad hoc basis. A boss who has a need to be involved will become involved one way or another, so there are advantages to including him or her at your initiative. Other bosses prefer to delegate-they don't want to be involved. They expect you to come to them with major problems and inform them about any important changes. (Gabbaro & Kotter) Understanding Yourself The boss is only one-half of the relationship. You are the other half, as well as the part over which you have more direct control. Developing an effective working relationship requires that you know your own needs, strengths and weaknesses, and personal style. Become aware of what it is about you that impedes or facilitates working with your boss and, with that awareness, take actions that make the relationship more effective. Learn how to disagree

23. Understanding What the CEO Wants • The subordinate who passively assumes that he or she knows what the boss expects is in for trouble. • Ultimately, the burden falls on the subordinate to find out what the boss's expectations are. • The Number Two needs to know expectations and information flow • The Number Two needs have constantly clarified what types of problems the CEO expects to be informed about and when information sharing should take place. • The Number Two needs be empowered

24. Being sensitive to a boss's work style can be crucial, especially when the boss is new. • Understanding how the boss works best • Need for information and frequency of contact • Need for preparation • Type of brainstorming • Level of comfort with subordinates • Level of control need

25. A Few Examples of the Managing Up Process: By helping the boss recognize that I'm a good professional, I gain the necessary freedom to do my job and the boss can be assured that my responsibilities will be addressed. My boss can be very compulsive by dropping into my office many times in one day. So I help him to see that he is keeping me from doing my job by using humor or telling him with a big smile to get out of my office. My boss presents himself in such a way that one is not always sure about what he is thinking. So I accommodate to his style by being more assertive and nurturing in order to help him be more expressive.

26. I've spent the past two years promoting the idea that our organization needs an in-house staff development program by soliciting the ideas of others and reminding my boss of the importance of orienting, updating, and upgrading staff When my salary as a female senior manager lagged significantly behind my male counterparts, it was necessary for me to advocate for myself and educate my boss. This was a scary but necessary component of our managerial relationship. While I have a difficult time saying "no" to anyone on my staff, it is even more difficult for me to say "no" to my boss. And yet, if I don't set realistic limits for my broad area of responsibility, who will? As I set limits, my boss gains greater understanding of my strengths and areas of improvement.

27. Checklist for Managing Your Boss Make sure you understand your boss and his or her context, including: §Goals and objectives §Pressures §Strengths, weaknesses, blind spots §Preferred work style Assess yourself and your needs, including: §Strengths and weaknesses §Personal style §Predisposition toward dependence on authority figures Develop and maintain a relationship that: §Fits both your needs and styles §Is characterized by mutual expectations §Keeps your boss informed §Is based on dependability and honesty §Selectively uses your boss's time and resources Gabarro & Kotter

28. EXAMPLE OF WORKING AT CROSS PURPOSES In one situation we studied, a top-notch marketing manager with a superior performance record was hired into a company as a vice president to straighten out the marketing and sales problems. The company, which was having financial difficulties, had recently been acquired by a larger corporation. The president was eager to turn it around and gave the new marketing vice president free rein-at least initially. Based on his previous experience, the new vice president correctly diagnosed that greater market share was needed for the company and that strong product management was required to bring that about. Following that logic, he made a number of pricing decisions aimed at increasing high-volume business. When margins declined and the financial situation did not improve, however, the president increased pressure on the new vice president. Believing that the situation would eventually correct itself as the company gained back market share, the vice president resisted the pressure. When by the second quarter, margins and profits had still failed to improve, the president took direct control over all pricing decisions and put all items on a set level of margin, regardless of volume. The new vice president began to find himself shut out by the president, and their relationship deteriorated. In fact, the vice president found the president's behavior bizarre. Unfortunately, the president's new pricing scheme also failed to in- crease margins, and by the fourth quarter, both the president and the vice president were fired. What the new vice president had not known until it was too late was that improving marketing and sales had been only one of the president's goals. His most immediate goal had been to make the company more profitable- quickly. Nor had the new vice president known that his boss was invested in this short-term priority for personal as well as business reasons. The president had been a strong advocate of the acquisition within the parent company, and his personal credibility was at stake. The vice president made three basic errors. He took information supplied to him at face value, he made assumptions in areas where he had no information, and-what was most damaging-he never actively tried to clarify what his boss's objectives were. As a result, he ended up taking actions that were actually at odds with the president's priorities and objectives. 1 1“Managing Your Boss”, Gabarro and Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 1986,2005

29. Please Keep Your Questions Easy, I just finished my articles too.

30. Thank You For Your Kind Attention This Has Been Managing Up: Creating a Partnership For Success Howard Schultz, MSW, LCSW For Other Presentations by Howard Schultz call 513-227-5541 or email Howschultz@cinci.rr.com

31. Bibliography and Source Material "Managing Up: Relationship Building Between Middle Management and Top Management", by Michael, J. Austin, PhD, Administration in Social Work, Vol. 12, 1988 “Managing Your Boss”, Gabarro and Kotter, Harvard Business Review, 1986,2005 “Hating the Boss is a Big Problem”, Joan Llyod, Joan Lloyd at Work, http://www.joanlloyd.com/articles/open.asp?art=169.htm “Managing Up: Helping You Help Your Boss”, Idealist on Campus, Connect Act Change Leader to Leader Institute: ttp://www.drucker.org/leadersbooks/121/complete-text.htm. The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams, (HarperBusiness, NY), 1996.