This article from the CNN Money Postcards blog contains some great comments from Pfizer executive Kristin Peck about the importance of managing up for your career. There’s also an interesting YouTube video at the bottom of the article of Peck in conversation with Xerox’s Una Warner and Fortune editor Pattie Sellars.

Peck describes how she very proactively ‘managed’ various Pfizer CEOs in order to maintain and advance her profile within the company. One of the points she makes is that her close working relationship with a particular CEO did not mean her position was weakened when he moved on. She states that managing up is just a special case of internal networking, and that managing across is equally important if you want to weather changes and upheavals with your position and reputation intact.

The only comment I’d take issue with is her suggestion that her approach is only relevant to large organisations. Certainly her assertive ultimatum to one CEO (“I’d like a new role. And if not, I’ll look on the outside”) might not be appropriate in a small NZ company. But that, to me, is just an issue of style. Managing up when your boss is someone you rub shoulders with every day can be more conversational and subtle.

Article: http://wp.me/pgbQp-2jD
Video: http://youtu.be/_gcvEYZdGgY

Tags: managing up