Managing Up: How to Work Well with the Boss You Actually Have

Your relationship with your supervisor may be the single biggest factor in how much you enjoy coming to work. When it's working, almost everything feels more manageable. When it isn't, even good days can feel like you're pushing a boulder uphill.

Managing up is a method of career development based on consciously working for the mutual benefit of yourself and your boss. That distinction matters: mutual benefit, not just theirs.

In this webinar, you'll get concrete, practical strategies for the parts of the supervisor relationship that trip most of us up: figuring out what your boss actually needs, building the kind of trust that gives you credibility when it counts, and staying grounded when you feel like you have very little control. No fluff, no corporate-speak — just real tools for the real dynamics you're navigating every day.
 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify strategies to align your work goals with your supervisor's priorities — and understand why that alignment matters more than agreement.
• Apply concrete methods for building and maintaining trust, including how to tell the truth when it's hard.
• Reduce frustration by developing a more complete picture of your supervisor as a whole person operating under their own pressures and constraints.
• Maintain a clear-eyed sense of what you can and cannot control in your workplace — and make better decisions because of it.

The recording and presentation slides will be available to all who register.

Presenter:

Sonya Schryer Norris is a third-generation Michigan library worker with over 26 years of experience, including 16 years as a Consultant in Library Development for the Library of Michigan. Since founding Plum Librarian LLC in 2020, she has served as a consultant and trainer to 12 state libraries. Sonya has created 35+ courses on Niche Academy adopted in all 50 states and internationally, and her articles have appeared in Library Journal, Computers in Libraries, and for Cengage. She presents regularly for organizations including Library 2.0, PCI Webinars, the Public Library Association, and state library agencies.

CALL Training Partner: Library 2.0

Track: Mental Wellness