This is Scale And Strategy, the daily newsletter that’s like a BizOps piñata - whack it open and savor the sweet, sweet pieces of knowledge.
Here’s what we got for you today:
A tactical, usable guide to managing up (minus the therapy-speak)
Everyone loves the cliché: “People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.” Cute line. Half-true. The reality is messier. Manager–report dynamics are a two-player game, and most people wildly overestimate how much they understand the other side’s job.
Managing up isn’t about sucking up or playing politics. It’s about creating alignment, removing friction, and making your manager's life easier so you can do the work you actually want to do. And when you get it right, it compounds fast. So here’s the real playbook, stripped of the HR fluff and built for operators.
1. Stop assuming you know your manager’s world
You only see 10% of what they do. The rest is invisible overhead, politics, and random chaos. Close the gap by aligning on two questions, always:
What does success look like for you?
What does success look like for your manager?
That intersection is the zone where your impact actually matters.
Understand their inputs. Some managers want metrics. Some want milestones. Some want customer quotes. Figure out the currency they trust and pay in that.
And zoom out. Your project isn’t the center of their universe. If you’re the priority this week, communicate aggressively. If you’re not, keep moving and be undeniably solid.
2. Communicate in a way that actually lands
Everyone hears differently. Some managers only retain the first sentence. Some need the conclusion first. Some want a wall of context. Adjust or suffer.
Match their style:
Micro-manager? Send tight, complete updates and stay ahead of their questions.
Hands-off? Bring them wins and the one hard problem you need help with.
Overloaded? Remove decisions from their plate by giving them clear options.
And please — stop surprising people. The earlier you surface issues, the more control everyone has.
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3. Make it stupidly easy for them to say yes
If you want approval, don’t drop a fully baked pitch with zero lead-up. Seed the idea early. Give them space to process. Bring options, not hypotheticals.
When you ask for something:
Come with 2–3 clear paths.
Show the tradeoffs.
Tie everything back to their goals or team OKRs.
Tailor the format to their brain (docs vs slides vs bullets).
You’re removing friction, not adding to it.
4. Feedback isn’t optional
Good feedback? Take it seriously and let it drown out impostor syndrome.
Critical feedback? Don’t take it personally. It’s data. Fix what’s valid, clarify what’s unclear, and don’t make the same mistake twice.
And please: don’t default to “yes” culture. Your job isn’t to please your manager. Your job is to drive the right outcome. Push back respectfully when needed. Use prioritization to force clarity: “Here’s what I’m already owning. Where does this new thing fit?”
5. Use your 1:1s like an operator, not a passenger
Don’t show up empty-handed. Have a shared doc with:
Quick FYIs
Your updates
Their updates
Follow-ups
Open questions
One or two real discussion points
Scan everything at the top of the meeting so they see the whole picture before diving into details.
And with a new manager? Set the tone early. Ask what they care about, what drives them crazy, and what “great” looks like to them. It saves months of guesswork.
6. Show your impact without being annoying
Remote work killed hallway updates. Replace them with async systems.
Set up a single source of truth—Notion, doc, whatever—that lists:
Your priorities
Status
Risks
Blockers
What’s coming next
And send a weekly State of the Union:
What you did
What you’re doing
What’s changed
What you need from them
Frequency beats perfection.
7. Build rapport like a normal human
You don’t need to be best friends. Just be interested. Ask about something that matters to them. Build context for how they think. It pays off.
Assume positive intent. Clarify instead of guessing. Summarize back what you heard so you’re actually aligned. And learn the difference between mentors (guidance) and sponsors (people who bet on you in rooms you’re not in).
Sometimes you need both.
The meta-point
Companies should actually train people on how to manage up. New hires should get a managing-up module, and leaders should publicly praise employees who do it well. It’s one of the most underrated skills in a startup.
But until your org grows up, you now have the version that actually works.
That’s it for today and as always It would mean the world to us if you help us grow and share this newsletter with other operators.
Our mission is to help as many business operators as possible, and we would love for you to help us with that mission!
This newsletter is a publication of Vector Research Partners (v4rp.com), a data and insights firm powering diligence and growth strategies for top operators and investors.
