Managing Up Without Selling Out: How to Lead Your Boss and Your Team

Do you feel stuck in the middle, like the meat in the sandwich, trying to meet your boss’s expectations while also meeting your teams?

Frontline leaders often face the unique challenge of balancing competing priorities from above and below. On one hand, you need to keep your team engaged, supported, and productive. On the other, you need to manage expectations from senior leaders who have their own pressures and priorities.

Who said being a frontline leader would be easy!

When it comes to managing up is it’s not just about keeping your boss happy, it requires building influence, setting boundaries, and ensuring your team’s needs are heard. So, how can you manage up effectively while still leading your team with confidence?

Many frontline leaders think managing up means shielding their team from senior leadership pressures. But true leadership requires finding alignment between what your boss needs and what your team needs, without compromising one for the other.

Do any of these sound familiar to you?

Do you speak up when your team is overloaded, or do you quietly absorb the pressure?
Are you able to challenge unrealistic expectations, or do you default to saying yes?
Do you ensure your team’s successes are visible to senior leaders, or do they go unnoticed?

Managing up effectively means balancing advocacy with accountability. It is about ensuring that the right work is prioritised, resourced, and recognised.

When it comes to Communicating With Senior Leaders how do you Say What Matters and Skip the Noise?

Executives and senior leaders are time-poor and focused on big-picture strategy. They don’t want to get caught up in the he said, she said of the day to day.  How you communicate with them matters. If you overload them with details, they will tune out. If you under-communicate, they won’t get all the information they need to make informed decisions.

If you want to communicate well upwards, heres a simple 3 step model to try out next time:

Start with the headline Instead of a long winding story, lead with the key point: "Our current workload is at capacity. To meet the deadline, we need to adjust priorities."
Know their priorities Frame your message in a way that aligns with what they care about. How does your team’s work support their strategic goals?
Offer solutions If you highlight a challenge, be ready with a recommendation and be clear on why it’s the best option. Instead of "We are not going to meet the target," try "We need additional support on X to meet the deadline, can we explore reassigning work or adjusting the scope?"

One of the biggest mistakes frontline leaders make is becoming a messenger rather than a leader, simply passing down demands from above without filtering, questioning, or advocating for their team. This can erode trust and create disengagement.

Here is how to lead both up and down effectively:
Be transparent Your team does not need to know every detail of senior leadership discussions, but they do need clarity. Explain why certain decisions are being made and how they impact the team.
Push back when needed If something is not realistic or will harm team performance, speak up. Senior leaders respect those who can offer a better way forward rather than just executing orders.
Keep your team visible Leaders who only pass up problems and never highlight successes miss an opportunity. Make sure senior leaders know about your team’s achievements, innovations, and contributions.  Where is an opportunity for you to start doing this?

The Leadership Sweet Spot: Balancing Advocacy and Alignment

Managing up does not mean always agreeing, and it does not mean becoming a buffer that absorbs all the pressure. It is about influence, knowing when to challenge, when to adapt, and how to ensure both your team and your boss are set up for success.

So, as a leader, ask yourself: Are you just passing messages between your team and your boss, or are you leading both with intention?