Resonating to the summit – Effective upward communication

Communication

Communication is at the heart of every successful workplace relationship, especially when it comes to engaging with your leaders. As a middle manager, you may often find yourself navigating the delicate balance between delivering updates, sharing feedback, or influencing decisions while considering both cultural nuances and individual leadership styles. Understanding how your leaders prefer to receive information can make a significant difference in how your message is received—and whether it achieves the intended result.

In today’s global and diverse workforce, effective communication is not just about choosing the right words; it is about recognizing how cultural backgrounds and personality traits shape a leader’s approach. Whether your leader values data-driven insights, thrives on creative vision, or prefers collaborative problem-solving, the way you tailor your communication can influence not only your working relationship but also the overall success of your team.

Culture

Radha had to work with multiple managers for a major project with distributed teams across USA, Japan, and Germany; she had to communicate with each one of them for updates, getting approvals and for getting help. Will her style be the same for each one?

In some cultures, direct communication is valued, while in others, it is seen as rude or overly aggressive. For example, a straightforward, blunt approach that works in few Western cultures but may be perceived as disrespectful in more indirect cultures like in many parts of Asia. Failure to recognize these differences can lead to friction and tension, as your leader may perceive your communication as a lack of professionalism or understanding of their role.

In cultures that value formal communication, a casual or overly friendly tone could undermine your credibility. Conversely, in cultures that prize informality being too formal might make you seem distant or unapproachable. Thus, your leader may disengage from the conversation, either because they feel you are not aligned with their norms or because your style does not resonate with them

Managerial style

Sita has a manager who is looking at data, metrics, deadlines, and outcomes; another manager who is driven by long-term goals and another who is focussing on team members, morale, and individual development. Will her communication be the similar though information is same?

By using the same approach, such as focusing only on data and results, a people-oriented manager may feel you are ignoring the team’s well-being, and a visionary manager might think you are not thinking strategically enough. Your leader may feel that you are not aligned with their expectations, which can lead to frustration or disengagement

These are just a couple of examples. There are multiple cultural and personal styles that could intersect and as a middle level manager, you need to navigate well to build trust and resonance, and achieve the expected result – may be a decision, an approval, a buy-in and so on.

A few approaches

Being sensitive to some of the cultural norms, will help you to align better with your leaders. I will list a few but remember these are not exhaustive

1. Communication varies according to the culture; the manager comes from. Direct communication works in some and indirect in some.
2. Some Cultures are comfortable with informal tones but not in some
3. Some are quick in decision making while some take a longer time with lengthy discussions and consensus building
4. Open disagreement is ok in some cultures but not ok with some cultures
5. Trust is built quickly by performance in some cultures while it is built over a longer time in some.

Here are a few approaches to help you align with managers of different styles

Again, this is not an exhaustive one

1. Be direct and concise, and focus on data and results with actionable steps to a result-oriented manager.
2. Align your responses to the long-term objective and show case continuous improvements and be ready to consider new ideas and initiatives with a visionary manager
3. Discuss about skills on the team and how you are working towards building skills of team members, their morale and collaboration while talking to people managers. Highlight their contributions and sometimes share about their interests apart from work.
4. For a detail-oriented manager tending towards micro-management, provide all the details. Keep up your commitment and build trust to help the manager reduce the micro-focus on your work.
5. When your empowering manager, delegates most of the time, provide regular updates in any case.

And finally, some tips on giving ‘Strokes’ to your manager

Do not be surprised. Everyone is hungry for strokes or feedback  including your manager. Strokes when provided appropriately and at proper time, can help on building rapport and a positive working relationship.

Here are a few tips

You can give strokes to your leaders (not an exhaustive list) when

•  their actions have given excellent results perceived at your level
• When a clear long-term vision is provided and which is understood clearly by all team members
• When a high morale prevails on the team
• When a detailed oriented manager points out critical misses
• When a manager gives a lot of freedom to act

Be genuine and authentic else it might put off the managers. And keep in mind always the cultural factors.

Communicating effectively upwards, requires practice; invest and reap the benefits.

Further reading

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/leadership-styles