Great managers don’t just lead teams, they navigate bosses, peers and employees with equal skill, and mastering all three is the real path to becoming a GOAT in any organization.
There are many different management styles, but the one constant is that managers have three groups of people to serve and influence:
- Managing Up: Those above you, including your immediate manager
- Managing Down: All the employees who work in the group you manage
- Managing Sideways: Your peers who hold similar level roles as you in the organization
I contend that the skills required to manage each of these groups are unique, requiring an effective manager to wear many different hats on the same day. There are very few managers who have mastered the skills necessary to have great relationships with all three of these “stakeholder” groups of people because it’s hard work and requires a lot of effort. Most people find it difficult to develop a style that makes you looks good wearing so many hats that are so different in color and style. But those who do become GOAT (Greatest of all time) leaders.
Managing Up
Let’s first look at the skills and personality characteristics needed to manage up. The most important relationships a manager must build are with their immediate boss and other senior leaders up the food chain. That’s because if you don’t earn the trust and respect from the leaders you report to, you won’t be around long enough to make a lasting impact.
We all know that most senior leaders are “politically” adept, and that skill is critical in developing strong relationships with your immediate boss and the senior leaders of your organization. These relationships are so important because they are the gatekeepers getting the human and financial capital you request, and the IT and support services crucial to your success.
If you are an equipment finance leader within a bank, your immediate manager has many commercial banking team reports and most likely has little experience with equipment leasing. Positioning yourself as the expert in equipment finance while acknowledging and advancing the broader goals of the bank makes you a valuable team member. Most senior bank leaders are looking for the head of their equipment finance team to hit their numbers without being high maintenance and avoiding negative surprises like material residual or credit write downs.
This takes a lot of confidence and a comfort level with having stressful conversations not only with your immediate manager but also with senior risk and finance leaders. When communicating up the chain with senior bank leaders, brevity in both your written and verbal communication is best as they all want you to “get to the point.” Since senior leaders are saddled with too many meetings in a day, the managers who don’t waste their time, stay on task and clearly articulate the performance and needs of the business unit are most admired. Also, if a material negative event arises, communicate it up the ladder quickly while recommending the course of action to be taken.
Running an equipment finance group within a bank means you will constantly be answering questions from many individuals from different departments on a broad range of topics. To be effective managing up, Equipment finance leaders must always have access to key data points about their business to be in position to answer these questions quickly and accurately. If you are running an independent lessor, this same principle applies to the barrage of questions you will receive from owners and other stakeholders (i.e., lenders). Being able to answer questions and provide requested data with little assistance from others will allow you to be speedy and look more competent to those asking the questions.
Managing Down
To be a respected leader, you must show respect for, and an understanding of, the work done not only by your immediate subordinates but for the entire team you manage.
Managing Down requires a completely different set of skills and communication methodologies versus managing up. Everyone in your organization wants to know how the business is doing, what the management team is focusing on, and that they are recognized for making meaningful contributions to the success of the organization. This requires empathy, strong listening skills, regular communication and making real personal connections not only with your immediate subordinates but also the people who work for your direct reports. Making personal connections with all employees in a large organization isn’t realistic but establishing strong relationships with your direct reports and their subordinates will give you different insights into the issues impacting your organization. An added plus will and will also help you identify future leaders.
I personally was never good at this, but I strongly recommend setting up regularly scheduled meetings with each of these individuals. They also need to know you are available at any time to discuss any matter where they want your input. Establish monthly or quarterly reviews of results with your entire organization or team (if you are a middle manager). Brevity doesn’t work in these meetings. Make sure you provide clarity and transparency to both the successes and challenges of the business. All team members should have a basic understanding of the key financial metrics that are tracked; ‘dumb it down’ if you must and avoid undefined acronyms and messy and unreadable charts. If you have a Q&A session at the end of your business reviews, always have a few plants who are ready to pose a question if nobody initially raises their hand with a question. Most of your employees are reluctant to ask questions in a large group setting. Planting some questions on topics that you know are on the minds of a lot of people will show you know what’s going on and will most likely spur more conversation.
Managing down also means taking a leadership role in setting the culture of your organization or team. ‘You are what you measure’ was always one of my favorite business sayings. Make sure you are measuring the right things. Measuring both objective results as well as how you got there are both important. One of the greatest examples of effectively managing down is constantly recognizing solid work both at the individual and team level. A few of your employees are just clocking in to get a paycheck but the overwhelming majority want to do good work and feel like their work is important. Taking the time to recognize people who are “going above and beyond” will not only make that person feel good but may encourage others to do the same. Managing down also means treating people fairly and with respect while also holding them accountable. Most people can privately identify the few individuals who are not pulling their weight in an organization or who have negative or toxic personalities. Your employees are watching to see if you as a manager can identify and deal with these individuals which may mean showing them the door.
Managing down effectively is the hardest of the three to master because there are so many more people to influence, impress, and rally to work with a sense of passion toward reaching a common set of goals.
Managing Sideways
While the least important of the three groups you must serve and influence, building strong alliances and relationships with your direct peers in the organization never hurts and can build lasting alliances.
If you want to increase your chances of promotions and enjoy a long career at one company, creating lasting relationships with your immediate peers is essential. Looking again at the bank lessor org chart (which was my world for 25 years), if you lead the equipment finance group, your team will be pulled into many large and important equipment financing opportunities with bank customers. Navigating these deals through a successful conclusion will require your attention and involvement and may involve delicate discussions and negotiations with your counterpart running the commercial banking team. It’s imperative the commercial banking team peer view you not only as an equal who can be trusted but as an expert product partner in helping to grow a customer relationship.
The other reason to establish solid relationships with your peers is because some of them may end up with positions higher up your ‘food chain,’ so then you will have a built-in network of allies. Your manager also wants to see that you play well in the sand with others, so getting in petty turf fights with your peers is never a good idea. Developing strong alliances with these folks can also make it easier to band together behind major strategic initiatives and speak with one voice to the big boss when needed.
Many managers never fully understand the importance of managing up, down and sideways or get there late in their career, as was the case for me. Mastering all three requires your constant attention and dedication to building relationships, a dose of humility at times, but also the confidence and competency your team looks for in a great leader.
Scott Kiley is a seasoned equipment finance professional with over 35 years of experience in capital markets, indirect and direct originations, and syndications. As an in-house instructor for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), he provides industry training, equipping professionals with the knowledge and strategies needed to excel in equipment leasing and finance. Kiley spent more than two decades at Fifth Third Bank, where he led the Equipment Finance Capital Markets Group as a Senior Vice President. Prior to that, he spent 21 years as a Vice President of Indirect Originations. His early career at GE Capital involved managing sales teams and driving tax lease sales for middle-market companies.
