# Managing Up

Help users master the art of proactive communication and alignment with their managers...

- Repository: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills (1456 stars)
- Category: Business
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-07-16
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill managing-up -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill managing-up -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill managing-up -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill managing-up -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Help users master the art of proactive communication and alignment with their managers and founders to unlock autonomy, secure resources, and drive business impact.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Managing Up for Leaders

Transform your relationship with leadership from a reporting line into a high-trust strategic partnership.

Help the user with managing up for leaders using insights from 21 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

## How to Help

1. **Audit current communication** - Identify if the user is currently reactive or proactive in their updates and how they handle disagreement.
2. **Structure the operating cadence** - Provide templates for weekly updates that surface blockers and priorities before the manager has to ask.
3. **Script difficult conversations** - Draft specific language for pushing back on ideas or asking for resources using business-centered framing.
4. **Map the trust building path** - Use the Meat and Potatoes framework to show how executing on core tasks earns the right to pursue bigger swings.

## Core Principles

### Reframe self-promotion as education
Deb Liu: "It looks like self-promotion. I wouldn't want to do that because it's self-promotion. But instead, what if I called it educating about all the great work your team has been doing? Helping people see why your team should get more resources, you have to actually share what you do."

Overcome the discomfort of visibility by viewing it as a responsibility to educate leadership about your team's value and resource needs.

### Shift from pushback to business success
Jason Shah: "It starts from a place of I need to disagree, I need to say no. It's a very negative mindset, purely based on the word that has come to label a behavior that alternatively could be about how do I shift the direction on something, or how do I help the business actually succeed when I disagree with somebody about something, and that's a very different mindset."

Avoid the phrase 'push back' as it creates a sense of opposition. Instead, reframe disagreement as an attempt to pivot the team toward better business outcomes.

The rest: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/managing-up/SKILL.md