Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 46

The Principle of It
All
The acts of managing up
and managing down are not
the same, but they do share
some similarities. In the book
Managing Up the authors share
seven principles of managing
up, which could be applied to a
variety of situations.
Managing is not the exclusive
property of MBA grads.
At times we are all managers,
and we are all support staff;
managers have to roll up their
sleeves and get in the trenches.
Those who manage up have to
think - and act - like managers.
A good manager is a student of
cause and effect.
It's not good enough to be
aware of what's happening
around you; you have to know
why it's happening.
If you're not helping, you're
hindering.
Ask yourself: "Did the work I
performed today help achieve
a goal?"

46

TALKING STICK

managerial style can be particularly
difficult in housing and residence life,
where the field is regularly shifting.
Erin Vaughn Jones, the associate
director for residential life at Jackson
State University in Mississippi, views
the nature of the field as an obstacle
in managing up. "I think learning
and knowing your supervisor's style
can be difficult. Adjusting your style
to fit can be difficult, especially if
your supervisor's style collides with
your own values and attitudes about
housing and residence life. It is
super important to know the areas
of improvement for your supervisor
so you can fill in the gap and be
that expert for them." Nevertheless,
Vaughn Jones finds the managing
up technique useful because of the
culture of the institution where she
works. It helps her make change in
an environment that has historically
been slow to do so. "My areas of
strengths are very different from my
supervisor's. If I want to change or
improve something, I go to him and
explain my rationale. He is usually
supportive. That's important because
I work at an HBCU (Historically Black
College and University) where culture,
tradition, and the 'we've always done it
that way' mentality is rampant."
Josh Lemieux, an area coordinator
at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer,
Indiana, tries to anticipate his
supervisor's needs when approaching
him with a problem. He explains that
he will work through the problem
himself, planning to offer his own
insight into remedies. "The biggest
thing I have discovered when it comes
to managing up is you have to explain
the problem, solution, and how you
came up with the solution. Leaving out
any of this information could lead to
more questions from the supervisor. A
challenge I've had to overcome is that
I don't always think about everything.
My supervisor has a completely
different view point than I do, and
even though I try to get as much
information as needed, sometimes
there are questions I haven't thought
about."

Lemieux tries to hire staff who
are problem solvers, knowing that
they will enhance his ability to do his
own job as well as train those staff for
their future. He explains that his time
working in a field outside of higher
education taught him that this is key
when creating the team to surround
him. "Managing up shows me that the
employee is willing to not only point
out problems, but also solve them.
It allows them to take responsibility
and have a sense of ownership. I
feel like this is a great way to help
individuals be more marketable when
they are interviewing for jobs later.
Managing up is one of the best things
we can have our staff do. I love when
people come to me with a solution to
a problem, not just a problem. This
enables me to use it as a teaching
moment and show them other
concerns they might have missed or
let them know their idea is excellent
and they should move forward," he
explains.
Debbie Scheibler, assistant director
of housing and residence life at
Rutgers University Camden in New
Jersey, sees how managing up could be
negative, but also sees the benefit of it,
particularly in assisting a supervisor
who is being pulled in many directions
and has too much on their plate. "I
used to think managing up was a sign
of a weak or absentee supervisor. I
still think it can be, but it's not always
a sign of that. I find myself doing it
frequently with my supervisor and
recently realized that the reason for
it is because our department is so
thin with staffing and so heavy on
everything that we need to accomplish
that there is no way my supervisor can
be the same supervisor he was when
we had another full-time professional
staff person in our office. I see both
sides of the coin and, honestly,
sometimes supervisors are stretched
so thin that they can't be as attentive
as they would like. That's when
managing up comes into play for me,"
she explains. Scheibler finds that the
success of a managing up relationship
is rooted in the tone of the relationship



Talking Stick - March/April 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - March/April 2016

Talking Stick - March/April 2016
Contents
Vision
Just In
Calendar
Your ACUHO-I
Transitions
Facilities
Human Resources
Fiscal Resources
Managing Full Circle
Making It Count
Conversations
First Takes
Around Student Affairs
New Members
Snapshot
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Intro
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - BB1
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - BB2
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Talking Stick - March/April 2016
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Cover2
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 1
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 2
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Contents
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 4
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 5
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 6
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 7
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Vision
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 9
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Just In
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 11
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 12
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - BI1
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - BI2
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 13
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 14
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 15
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 16
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 17
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Calendar
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 19
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 21
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Transitions
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 23
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Facilities
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 25
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 26
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 27
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Human Resources
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 29
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 30
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 31
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Fiscal Resources
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 33
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 34
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 35
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Managing Full Circle
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 37
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 38
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 39
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 40
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 41
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 42
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 43
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 44
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 45
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 46
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 47
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Making It Count
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 49
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 50
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 51
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 52
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 53
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 54
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 55
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Conversations
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 57
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 58
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - First Takes
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 59
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Around Student Affairs
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - 62
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - New Members
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Cover3
Talking Stick - March/April 2016 - Cover4
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