This invaluable guide helps you cultivate the balanced, cohesive, and passionate leadership style called "managing up." It's a style that works from the middle ranks, where leadership often entails influencing your boss, your peers, and those who report to you-all of whom are favorably affected by your commitment and contributions. Managing up, then, is about building those traits that are most admired and appreciated, such as integrity, energy, empathy, resilience, and big-picture thinking-classic leadership traits that propel people from any organizational rank on a fast track upward. Packed with practical strategies and useful advice, "Lead Your Boss" shows you how to: think strategically, challenging yourself and your team to be more innovative; cultivate criticism and honest feedback as important components of growth and improvement; coach your team in the 3Cs (coordinate, cooperate, and collaborate) of working together in a mutually beneficial way; persuade others to listen to your ideas, overcoming obstacles and turning influence into leadership; challenge assumptions without challenging the individual above you, and break down often daunting resistance to change; exhibit resiliency in the face of adversity, turning setbacks into comebacks; and putting people into positions where they can succeed-then stand aside and let them.

Part I. What does the leader need? Leading up -- Thinking and acting strategically -- Pushing back the right way / Part II. What does the team need? Letting others create the how -- Breaking down the doors -- Working the system / Part III. What can I do to help the leader and the team succeed? Bending but not breaking -- Preparing others to lead -- Leading with presence / The smart guide to positive push-back.