How to Lead Up at Work

lead up

It is easy to think that if you are not in charge or not the leader that you have no influence over what happens. Yet if you work for a good leader, he or she will want your input. They will want to hear your voice to help lead your team, church or organization.

Yet what I find when I talk with student pastors, worship pastors or those who are not in charge, they aren’t sure how to lead up.

As someone who leads a church, here are some things to keep in mind as you try to lead up to your boss:

1. Know how they communicate. While every lead pastor or boss does not have the same personality, those who rise to the top of an organization typically have similar personalities. They are often logic driven, fact oriented, and love data. Many times the people who make up the leader’s team struggle because they are focused on feelings or hunches. That is not helpful when you are trying to lead up. If you say to your boss (and he’s data driven), “I think we should do ___” and have no data to back it up, he will often disregard it. Should he/she listen to you and your feelings? It will depend on your track record and, as we’ll see in #4, what kind of employee you are.

It is easy to disregard this and say that people above you should listen to you. However, it is often not possible because of your history as a worker and how your boss sees the world. Often a lack of not understanding how someone is wired keeps you from moving an idea forward.

2. Know how they process. Each person processes ideas differently. Some people process them out loud, some do it internally. Some want to brainstorm out loud, and others want to do it by themselves. This is crucial to getting a boss on your side for an idea. If they process alone and in their head, give them information before a meeting. Make sure they have what they need before a presentation. If they process in a meeting, this is less of a big deal.
This also gets into the territory of setting your boss up to succeed. This is often not what an employee thinks about, but if you want your boss to set you up for success, you can do the same things. This is counter intuitive, but if you want to get your boss on board with what you’d like to do, helping your boss accomplish their goals will go a long way for you.

3. Don’t back them into a corner. The worst thing you can do to your boss is walk into a meeting or their office, give them a new idea and say, “I need an answer right now.” While this can happen and be completely out of your control, often it comes from poor planning on your part. I tell our team if you tell me this my first answer will be no. I don’t want to be backed into a corner, and neither does your boss. The reason this isn’t outlandish is because I know you don’t want to be backed into a corner either.
If you back someone into a corner, they often get defensive, and it erodes the idea of being on a team and working together.

4. Be the best employee or team member possible. While we often want our ideas to be heard simply because we are on a team, that isn’t reality. Bosses listen more to employees and team members who are great at their jobs. This is just the way it is. If you want to be heard, one of the best things you can do is be great at what you do. Be on time, work hard, get things done. If you are lazy, lethargic and not excited about your job, your boss will often listen to your ideas less, give less leeway and get behind your ideas and passions less than you’d like.

Your boss may be the worst person on the planet. They may not care about your goals, career or even your life. They make things miserable for you. Most bosses are not like that. Most want to work with you and help you succeed. While you focus on your career goals and where they are headed, your boss is not paid for that. He/she is paid to lead a company, church or team. This is a crucial distinction, and it is one that often leads to hurt feelings and missed opportunities. You will have to work hard to align yourself with what your boss is hoping to accomplish in order to lead up so your boss can be of help to you.

Leading Up

leading up

Leadership is hard. That isn’t news.

It is hard to lead people. It is hard to lead followers. It is hard to lead those under you or those who work next to you on the organizational chart (you know, the ones you can’t make do something).

It is really hard to lead those over you, to lead up.

Yet, to get anywhere in leadership, you must learn to lead up.

Why?

The person above you probably controls your budget, your salary, your benefits and if what you want to do gets done.

The person above you potentially controls a lot.

So, to accomplish what you want to accomplish at work and in your life, you need to lead them well.

This is especially true for guys who want to plant churches.

If this is you, you will at some point, find yourself working under someone. Someone that you are smarter than, someone that you are more relevant than, someone that you are more biblical than, someone that has sold out to risks and is now just collecting a paycheck.

Now, you won’t say these things to them.

But deep down, you know they “lost it.”

They now look and sound like the guy from Up. 

So how do you lead up? Here are 5 ways to lead up and accomplish what God has called you to without losing your leadership. Because don’t mistake this: if you don’t lead up well, you will have a hard time leaving your current spot to get the role you want. 

  1. Affirm and back their vision. Right now, if you aren’t the leader at the top of the organizational chart, you are a follower. If you can’t follow well, you can’t lead well. What if you don’t support their vision? Unless it isn’t biblical, you chose to be there. You need to be submissive to that. As long as it isn’t heretical, just different from what you would do, follow well. But you know better. You are an entrepreneur who God has called to something else. I know. But wait. Affirm them as the leader. Believe it or not (see #5), you will need them in the future.
  2. Be patientYour timing is not God’s timing. I knew when I was 21 that I would one day plant a church. I didn’t know where or when, but I knew. It was when I was 29 in a state I had never set foot in before. Those 8 years were hard, sometimes painful, but they were formative. Be in the moment. Seek to learn what you can. If you aren’t in charge, relish that. Prepare for when you will be. Watch. Listen. Ask questions. Seek out mentors. Read books. Be ready for when God says “Go.”
  3. Risk when the time is right. This is a timing and heart issue. I’ve watched countless guys say “Go” and it was terrible timing for them, their families and the church they left. Can God overcome anything and call anyone at anytime? Yes. God is also wise and doesn’t always call us to the stupidest thing we could do. If you think, “Is this stupid? That must be God’s will for my life.” That is a terrible way to discern that. But lots of people equate crazy risk with stupid. Don’t put your family in a bind. Don’t put the church you are leaving in a bind. Remember, the way you leave a church is how they will remember you. They will forget everything else you did.
  4. Be open and honest. Talk to those above you about what God has placed on your heart. What if they fire you? You don’t want to be there then. This also shows if you feel called or if you think planting or being the lead guy just sounds fun.
  5. Don’t leave unless they back you. The first question I ask a church planter who wants money, people, support or resources from Revolution Church is, “Does the church you just left support you? Are they giving you anything?” I’m very cautious of the guy who says “No” and then has a story or reasons why not. Is it always their fault? No. But to me that is a sign, a red flag that often reveals a character issue.
Enhanced by Zemanta