Managing Up & Working With Your Supervisor (Workshop)
Leaders have bosses too, a superintendent, a district office, a board, and how you work with them shapes what you can do for your school. Managing up well, communicating proactively, understanding their priorities, and advocating effectively, is a skill that protects your school and your sanity.
Key takeaway
Leaders have supervisors too; managing up well, proactive communication, understanding their priorities, and effective advocacy, shapes what you can accomplish for your school.
Format
Leadership session
Length
45 minutes
Group size
Any (works 4-40)
Who can run it
A school leader
You will need
Slides (5)Printed handoutYour supervisor relationship in mindA timer
Aligned to
Learning Forward: Conditions for SuccessInTASC 10: Leadership & CollaborationResearch on organizational leadership
Share / assign
Why it works
School leaders operate within a district hierarchy, and their effectiveness depends partly on the relationship with their own supervisors. Working well with those above, communicating proactively (no surprises), understanding and connecting to their priorities, advocating for the school with evidence, and building trust, lets leaders secure resources, autonomy, and support. Neglecting this relationship, or treating it only as compliance, limits what a leader can do.
The research: Research on organizational leadership and managing up.
The run-of-show
Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.
The core activity: strengthen managing up
Leaders leave with a proactive communication and advocacy plan for their supervisor.
Identify your supervisor priorities and pressures.
Plan proactive communication (no surprises, regular updates).
Plan how you advocate for your school with evidence and solutions.
Identify shared goals to build the relationship on.
No surprises, shared goals, evidenceManaging up is proactive communication, understanding their priorities, and advocating with evidence. Build the trust that gets your school what it needs.
Facilitator notes
Communicate proactively, and understand supervisor priorities.
Advocate with evidence and solutions.
Build trust over time.
Treating it as compliance limits your schoolOnly reacting to directives, or avoiding the relationship, means less support and autonomy for your school. Manage up proactively and advocate.
One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.
K12 Academics · Professional Learning
Managing Up: proactive and evidence-based
<b>Get your school what it needs:</b> no surprises, understand their priorities, advocate with evidence, find shared goals.
My supervisor priorities and pressures:
My plan for proactive communication:
How I advocate for my school with evidence:
The shared goals to build on:
A relationship move to make:
Make it stick
Proactive and evidence-based:
Communicate proactively.
Advocate with evidence.
Bring a managing-up win to the leadership team.
Common questions
Isn't managing up just politics?
It is relationship and communication, not manipulation. Keeping your supervisor informed, understanding their priorities, and advocating with evidence builds the trust that gets your school support and autonomy.
What does managing up well look like?
No surprises (proactive communication), understanding their goals and pressures, bringing solutions not just problems, and advocating for your school with data and a clear case.
My supervisor and I don't see eye to eye. What do I do?
Seek to understand their priorities and pressures, find shared goals, communicate proactively, and build trust over time. Disagreement handled professionally beats avoidance.