Leadership Starts With Being a Fly on the Wall

We all know that good leaders have followers, right? But, what about managing up? What if your opportunity to lead is based on your ability to persuade those who have 10 times more influence than you?

Gaining traction as a leader early in your career is possible—and here’s how. Whether you’re looking to take on additional responsibility or you have a supervisor who is absent, you can find value in managing up. And A/E/C marketers are often uniquely capable of this type of leadership due to their innate ability to understand social settings (i.e., soft skills). Here are some tips to get you started.

Realize that everyone has to master the art of influence—even your boss. We all have someone that we desire to convince or persuade of something. For example, marketers need buy-in from their company leaders. Firm owners need buy-in from their partners. And our clients must appease a governing board, capital partner, or customer. The reality? Honing our skills to provide value and influence the people who have the needed resources are an important part of any professional development plan. Do you know your supervisors’ goals and challenges? What keeps them awake at night? How can you go above and beyond your assigned tasks to enhance their work?

To read more, download the entire article.

This article, written by Michele Decker, CPSM, first appeared in the June 2018 issue of Marketer.

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