Managing Up Assessment

SHARE YOUR RESULT

Share with your network

Let others know what you discovered about your leadership style.

SHARE ON

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are starting a new role or a new reporting relationship. The most honest version of what you do in the first two weeks to establish how the relationship will work is:

You initiate a specific conversation about how your manager prefers to communicate, what they most need from you, and how they want to be kept informed — you treat establishing the working relationship as your responsibility, not something that emerges over time 4 You wait and observe — you want to understand the environment before you start making proposals about how things should work 1 You follow the cadence your manager sets — if they establish weekly check-ins you attend them, if they prefer email updates you send them 3 You ask a few questions but do not have an explicit conversation — you pick up the norms gradually through the first few interactions 2

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you update your manager on your work, the most honest version of what you prioritise in that communication is:

What you have been doing — the activities, the progress, the outputs of your effort over the period 2 What your manager needs to know to do their job — the decisions they need to make, the risks they need to be aware of, the things that require their attention or action 4 What will make the best impression — the achievements, the completed work, the evidence of your contribution 1 What is going well and what is at risk — you frame updates around status, giving your manager a clear picture of where things stand 3

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about your manager's priorities, pressures, and constraints — what is on their agenda, what they are being measured on, what keeps them awake — the most honest version of how well you understand those things is:

Not very well — you know what they ask you to do but you have limited insight into the pressures they are navigating above their own level 1 Reasonably well — you have a general sense of their priorities and you try to align your work accordingly 3 Well and specifically — you know their primary objectives, you understand the stakeholders they are managing, and you factor their pressures into how you communicate and what you flag 4 Partially — you understand their immediate priorities but less so the broader context they are operating in 2

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

Your manager has a pattern of behaviour that is getting in the way of your effectiveness — they are not giving you clear direction, they keep changing priorities, or they are not making themselves available when you need decisions. Your most honest approach is:

Adapt — you work around the pattern as best you can and try not to let it affect your output 3 Wait — you hope the pattern will resolve itself or that conditions will change 2 Complain — you raise it with a peer, a skip-level, or an HR contact because the behaviour is genuinely affecting your work 1 Name it directly with your manager — you have a specific, non-blaming conversation about what you need and why the current pattern is making it difficult 4

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You believe that the most important thing in managing up is understanding what your manager wants and consistently delivering it. You:

Know that understanding what your manager wants is the starting point, not the full picture — the professionals who manage up most effectively also help their manager understand what they need, influence how the relationship works, and push back when the direction is not right 4 Consider this essentially right — a manager who gets what they need from you is more likely to give you what you need, and consistent delivery is the foundation of that exchange 2 Know this is insufficient — delivering what your manager asks for without shaping the relationship means you are being managed rather than managing up 3 Consider this exactly right — the relationship works when you understand and deliver your manager's priorities, and everything else follows from that 1

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You have made a significant mistake — something that has had visible consequences and that your manager will hear about whether you tell them or not. Your honest approach is:

Wait and see — if it resolves itself you do not need to raise it and if it does not you will address it then 2 Say nothing — if you can manage the fallout without involving your manager that is the better outcome for everyone 1 Tell them before they hear it elsewhere — you name what happened, what the consequences are, what you have done about it, and what you need from them 4 Tell them when you have a solution — you do not want to bring a problem without an answer 3

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about how your manager currently perceives your ambition, your development goals, and your intended direction — the most honest version of how clearly they understand those things is:

They have a general sense — you have mentioned your aspirations in passing but you have not had an explicit conversation about where you want to go and what you need to get there They know specifically — you have had direct conversations about your ambitions, your development priorities, and what you need from the relationship to make progress toward them They probably do not know — you keep your ambitions private because you are not sure how your manager would respond to them They may have an impression but it is probably not accurate — you have not given them enough information to form a clear picture

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You are in a difficult conversation with your manager — a moment where they are giving you feedback you do not fully agree with, making a decision you think is wrong, or pressing you on something in a way that feels unfair. And you are aware of something that has happened in similar conversations before: a part of you closes. The part that might push back, that might offer your real view, that might say "I see it differently" goes quiet. What comes out instead is the professionally appropriate response — measured, deferential, technically accurate. And the conversation ends without your manager knowing what you actually think about what just happened. The most honest version of what you do with that recognition afterwards is:

File it — you move on and resolve to handle the next similar conversation differently, which is what you always resolve Nothing — you think this is just how conversations with managers work and that your private view is not always the one you share Examine it — you try to understand what specifically shuts you down in those moments and what it would take to say the thing you closed around Raise it later — you find a low-stakes moment to surface the thing you did not say in the original conversation, not to relitigate it but to ensure your manager has your full view

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

You believe that the most effective way to build a strong relationship with your manager is to be the kind of employee who never causes problems — who delivers consistently, raises issues only when they have solutions, does not ask for things the organisation cannot provide, and creates as little friction as possible in the relationship. You:

Know that this approach produces compliance, not partnership — and that managers who have only compliant reports are often the last to know about the things that most need their attention Know this is partially right — avoiding unnecessary friction is sensible, but never causing problems also means never raising the ones that need to be raised Consider this essentially right — a manager whose direct reports consistently deliver and do not create difficulties is more likely to invest in those people's development and advocate for their advancement Consider this exactly right — the least troublesome employee is often the most valued one, and the discipline of solving your own problems before they reach your manager is a mark of genuine professional maturity

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

Your manager is about to make a decision that you believe is wrong — not catastrophically, but meaningfully. You have information they do not have that would change the picture. The most effective way to influence the decision is:

Send a detailed email with your analysis before the decision is made — a well-documented case gives them the information they need and creates a record of your position Raise it in their next one-on-one — you do not want to seem like you are going around the process and the one-on-one is the right venue Accept the decision — it is their call and your job is to implement effectively, not to second-guess Request a brief conversation before the decision is finalised — not to argue but to share the specific information you have that they may not, and let them decide what to do with it

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

Your manager has a working style that is genuinely different from yours — they are detail-oriented where you think at the level of the headline, they need frequent check-ins where you work best with autonomy, or they communicate in a way that you find hard to read. Your honest approach is:

Endure it — they are your manager and adapting to their style is part of the job Raise it carefully — you name the difference in working styles and ask if there is a way to find an approach that works for both of you 3 Adapt as much as you can — you meet them where they are even when it does not feel natural, because the relationship requires it Have a direct and specific conversation — you name your working style, explain how you do your best work, and explicitly ask for the conditions that allow you to be most effective, while asking what they need from you in return

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about the clearest, most specific feedback you have received from your manager in the past six months about what you need to do differently or develop — the most honest version of whether you have acted on it is:

You have acted on it specifically and you have told them you have — you closed the loop by naming what you changed and why, so they know the feedback landed You have acted on it but have not named it back to them — you made the change but they may not be aware that their feedback produced it You have thought about it but not fully acted — the feedback was useful and you have been meaning to address it You have partly acted but are not sure whether what you changed is visible to them or whether it matches what they were looking for

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

When you think about how you communicate with your manager about the difficulties in your work — the challenges, the constraints, the things that are harder than they look from the outside — the most honest version of your approach is:

You name them early, specifically, and with your best thinking on how to address them — you treat your manager as someone whose job is partly to help you navigate difficulty, not someone you need to protect from it You name the significant ones before they become crises — you give your manager enough lead time to help if they need to, framing the difficulty in terms of what you need from them You manage them yourself where possible and raise them only when you need their help — you do not want to be seen as someone who cannot handle the normal challenges of the role You raise them after the fact more often than before — you prefer to report on how you handled a difficulty rather than flag it while it is still live

COMMUNICATION & PRESENCE

The most honest version of your relationship with your current manager — the account you would give to yourself, not in a performance review — is:

You are doing what they ask and trying to stay on their good side — the relationship is functional but you are not sure it is serving your development You are surviving it — there are things about the relationship that are not working and you have not found a way to address them You are working it — you understand what your manager needs, you communicate in ways that serve both of you, and you have had enough direct conversations that the relationship feels genuinely collaborative You are actively shaping it — you have invested in understanding their world, you know what the relationship needs to work, and you have the specific conversations that create the conditions for your best work

1 of 14

Free Newsletter

Get Weekly Leadership Insights

Join thousands of leaders who get free tips on executive presence, career growth, and leadership psychology every week.

Weekly tips

New quizzes first

Free resources

No spam ever

Email(Required)

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.

Related Quizzes

Political Awareness Quiz

Managing up and political awareness operate in the same territory — both require an accurate read of who has influence, what they care about, and how to engage with them effectively. This quiz assesses how accurately you read the informal power dynamics of your organisation.

Promotion Readiness Assessment

Your manager is the primary gatekeeper and advocate in your promotion process — how well you manage that relationship is one of the strongest predictors of whether your readiness translates into an actual promotion decision.

Leadership Presence Quiz

How your manager experiences your leadership presence — whether you show up as someone already operating at the next level — is shaped in part by how deliberately you manage the relationship. This quiz assesses the specific presence signals you are sending in the conversations that matter most.

Salary Negotiation Readiness

The most effective salary negotiation begins long before the conversation itself — in the quality of the relationship, the clarity of mutual expectations, and the degree to which your manager understands and advocates for your value. This quiz assesses how well-positioned you are when that conversation arrives.

Share with your network

You are starting a new role or a new reporting relationship. The most honest version of what you do in the first two weeks to establish how the relationship will work is:

When you update your manager on your work, the most honest version of what you prioritise in that communication is:

When you think about your manager's priorities, pressures, and constraints — what is on their agenda, what they are being measured on, what keeps them awake — the most honest version of how well you understand those things is:

Your manager has a pattern of behaviour that is getting in the way of your effectiveness — they are not giving you clear direction, they keep changing priorities, or they are not making themselves available when you need decisions. Your most honest approach is:

You believe that the most important thing in managing up is understanding what your manager wants and consistently delivering it. You:

You have made a significant mistake — something that has had visible consequences and that your manager will hear about whether you tell them or not. Your honest approach is:

When you think about how your manager currently perceives your ambition, your development goals, and your intended direction — the most honest version of how clearly they understand those things is:

Your manager is about to make a decision that you believe is wrong — not catastrophically, but meaningfully. You have information they do not have that would change the picture. The most effective way to influence the decision is:

Your manager has a working style that is genuinely different from yours — they are detail-oriented where you think at the level of the headline, they need frequent check-ins where you work best with autonomy, or they communicate in a way that you find hard to read. Your honest approach is:

When you think about the clearest, most specific feedback you have received from your manager in the past six months about what you need to do differently or develop — the most honest version of whether you have acted on it is:

When you think about how you communicate with your manager about the difficulties in your work — the challenges, the constraints, the things that are harder than they look from the outside — the most honest version of your approach is:

The most honest version of your relationship with your current manager — the account you would give to yourself, not in a performance review — is:

Get Weekly Leadership Insights

Get Weekly Leadership Insights

© 2025 LeadershipQuizHub — Created by Devika Das