One of the fastest ways to stall out in your engineering leadership journey is by failing to manage up.

I’m not talking about sucking up or nodding along in meetings like a bobblehead. I’m talking about being the kind of person your VP or CTO can rely on—someone who brings clarity, drives solutions, and actually makes their job easier.
If you’re a team lead, an engineering manager, or stepping into your first director role, this post is for you.
Because here’s the truth: being good at managing your own team is only half the job. The other half is knowing how to work with the people above you—people who control budget, headcount, and strategy. You need to be able to operate one level up while still executing at your own.
What Managing Up Actually Means
It’s not just about providing status updates or keeping your team afloat. Managing up is about giving your VP or CTO confidence in a few key things:
- You understand the business context.
- You think beyond your own silo.
- You won’t let them get blindsided in a room full of other execs.
In short, they don’t need to babysit you—and they trust you to surface the right things at the right time.
Five Traits of People Who Manage Up Well
1. You Anticipate What They’ll Care About
You don’t go into the weeds unless asked. You translate problems into business terms. You make the tradeoffs clear.
Example:
“We could rewrite this service, but it’ll push the launch back by six weeks. I recommend we stabilize what we have, ship on time, and refactor later.”
Now you’re speaking their language—impact, risk, timeline.
2. You Keep It Tight and High-Signal
Senior leaders do not have time for essays.
The rule is:
What’s happening? Should they care? Are you on it?
Bullet points. Headline summaries. Clear next steps. If your update takes more than 30 seconds to digest, it’s too long.
3. You Escalate Before It’s a Dumpster Fire
Executives hate surprises.
You don’t wait until something explodes. You surface risks early—even if you’re not 100% sure yet.
“I’m tracking a possible issue with our third-party provider. Might be nothing, but if it escalates, it could impact the release. I’ll keep you updated.”
That earns trust. Hiding bad news does the opposite.
4. You Protect Their Time
You don’t flood their calendar with meetings that could’ve been a Slack. You don’t show up with vague problems. You bring context, options, or at least a clear ask.
The fastest way to build trust with senior leaders is to show that you respect their time—and don’t create more work for them.
5. You Give Honest Feedback (You’re Not a Yes Man)
Here’s a big one.
Managing up does not mean agreeing with everything that comes down from the top. That’s not leadership. That’s cowardice.
When something feels off, you speak up. Not to argue. Not to grandstand. But because your job is to provide signal from where you sit.
“The direction makes sense, but I want to flag one concern—this change will likely set us back three weeks unless we adjust scope. We can do it, but there’s risk.”
That kind of clarity is invaluable.
Senior leaders want strong people who push back constructively, bring options, and care about outcomes. They don’t want “yes” people who nod while the ship drifts into an iceberg.
Bonus Tip: Be Someone They Can Put in Front of Their Boss
If your VP or CTO has to explain everything you say or do to their peers, you won’t last long.
But if you make them look good—by being prepared, thoughtful, and aligned—they’ll start pulling you into more rooms. That’s when your career takes off.
TL;DR: This Is the Job
Managing up isn’t some side quest. It is the job once you’re in leadership.
You’re not just managing engineers. You’re managing expectations, priorities, and outcomes up and down the org chart.
If you do this well, you’ll find yourself trusted, included, and fast-tracked. If you don’t, you’ll stay stuck wondering why good work isn’t getting noticed.
So take this seriously.
You’re not just here to lead a team—you’re here to help lead the business.
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