Why all three directions matter equally
Most professionals are naturally stronger in one direction. Some are excellent with their team but neglect managing up. Others are strong with leadership but poor with peers. A few manage across brilliantly but struggle to develop their team.
The problem is that these three dimensions are interconnected. You cannot manage up effectively if your team is underperforming. You cannot manage your team well if you cannot secure resources from leadership. You cannot get anything done if your peers do not cooperate.
| Direction | What It Involves | Career Impact | |-----------|-----------------|---------------| | Managing up | Aligning with leadership, securing support, building trust with your chain | Determines promotions, resources, and scope | | Managing down | Developing your team, delegating effectively, building trust | Determines your team's output and your reputation as a leader | | Managing across | Collaborating with peers, building cross-functional relationships | Determines your ability to deliver on anything requiring other teams |
The most effective professionals — and the most promotable — are those who can operate in all three directions simultaneously. This is what calibration committees actually evaluate when they talk about "leadership at the next level."
Managing up: what leadership needs from you
Managing up is not about impressing your boss. It is about creating a partnership where you and your leadership chain work together effectively.
Understand their context. Your manager is operating in a world you only partially see. They have their own manager, their own peers, their own pressures. The more you understand their context, the better you can frame your work, requests, and communications in terms that resonate.
Communicate in their language. Some leaders want data and detail. Others want the headline and the recommendation. Some prefer written updates. Others prefer a quick verbal check-in. Adapting to their style is not being inauthentic — it is being effective.
Bring solutions, not just problems. Every leader appreciates someone who flags issues early. But the ones who get promoted also bring proposed solutions. "We have a risk with the timeline — here are two options for how we could address it" is dramatically more valuable than "We have a risk with the timeline."
Make their advocacy job easy. Your manager advocates for you in rooms you are not in. Give them the material to do it well: clear documentation of your impact, endorsements from cross-functional partners, and a narrative about your growth that they can repeat.
Ask for feedback regularly. Do not wait for annual reviews. Monthly check-ins with your manager about your performance and growth show initiative and give you early signals about how you are perceived.
Managing down: what your team needs from you
If you manage people, the quality of those relationships directly determines your team's performance and your reputation as a leader.
Create psychological safety. Your team needs to feel safe raising problems, admitting mistakes, and challenging ideas — including yours. If people only tell you good news, you are flying blind. Build safety by responding to bad news with curiosity, not blame.
Invest in individual development. Each person on your team has different goals, strengths, and growth areas. One-size-fits-all management signals that you do not care enough to pay attention. Tailor your approach to each individual.
Shield without hiding. Protect your team from unnecessary organisational noise, but be transparent about the pressures and trade-offs that affect them. People appreciate being protected. They resent being kept in the dark.
Delegate outcomes, not tasks. Delegate by defining what success looks like, then let your team figure out how to get there. This develops their capabilities and frees your time for the relationships and strategy work that only you can do.
| Managing Down Principle | What It Looks Like | Anti-Pattern | |------------------------|-------------------|-------------| | Psychological safety | Mistakes discussed openly | Problems hidden until they explode | | Individual development | Tailored coaching per person | Same feedback for everyone | | Strategic shielding | Filter noise, share context | Either dumping everything or hiding everything | | Outcome delegation | Clear goals, flexible methods | Micromanaging every step |
Managing across: what peers need from you
Cross-functional peer relationships are where most professionals underinvest — and where the biggest gains are available.
Build relationships before you have requests. The worst time to meet a peer manager is when you urgently need their team's help. Invest in relationships proactively so that when you do need cooperation, there is goodwill in the bank.
Understand their constraints. Every team has different pressures, timelines, and priorities. When you show genuine understanding of a peer's constraints, they are far more likely to find a way to help you. "I know your team is stretched on the release — is there a way we could scope this to fit within your bandwidth?" gets better results than "We need this by Friday."
Share credit generously. When cross-functional work succeeds, make sure the other team gets public recognition. This is the cheapest and most effective way to build long-term cooperation.
Resolve conflicts directly. When priorities clash (and they will), have the conversation directly and early. Most cross-functional conflicts can be resolved by two professionals who respect each other having a candid conversation about trade-offs.
Be the reliable partner everyone wants to work with. Your reputation across peers determines how much cooperation you get. Deliver on commitments, communicate proactively, and respect other teams' processes. Over time, being known as a great partner becomes your biggest cross-functional asset.
A system for managing in all three directions
Managing up, down, and across simultaneously requires a system. Here is how to structure it.
Weekly: Allocate relationship time across all three directions.
| Direction | Weekly Time | Activities | |-----------|-------------|------------| | Up | 1-2 hours | Manager 1-on-1, skip-level prep, leadership updates | | Down | 3-4 hours | Team 1-on-1s, coaching, development conversations | | Across | 1-2 hours | Peer check-ins, cross-functional alignment, relationship building |
Monthly: Review your relationship health across all directions. Are any relationships weakening? Are there stakeholders you have been neglecting? Which direction needs more investment this month? A quick review prevents blind spots from developing.
Quarterly: Assess your balance. Are you over-indexed in one direction at the expense of others? Many managers spend all their time managing down and neglect managing up and across. Some high-performers manage up brilliantly but underinvest in their team. Check your balance and correct.
Orvo helps you manage this multi-directional complexity by tracking all your professional relationships in one place. You can see your engagement cadence across all three directions, identify gaps, and ensure no critical relationship is being neglected while you focus on another area.
Points clés
- ✓ Career success requires managing up (leadership), down (team), and across (peers) simultaneously
- ✓ Managing up means understanding leadership context and making their advocacy job easy
- ✓ Managing down requires psychological safety, individual development, and outcome-based delegation
- ✓ Managing across depends on proactive relationship building, shared credit, and reliable partnership
- ✓ Allocate weekly time across all three directions and review your balance monthly