Note: the key to managing up is not to vent what's on your mind and go back to giving your bosses what they want in the first place. The key is to make them su

Note: the key to managing up is not to vent what's on your mind and go back to giving your bosses what they want in the first place. The key is to make them suffer your suffering until they realize that if they don't do something, they won't get what they want. As a middle manager, part of that escalation process is to use every means at your disposal to get things to work then inform the next layer when you've run out of options, and hope they aren't dicks and can send some additional resource your way. You will very quickly discern the practitioners of good (servant) leadership from the bad (narcissistic) generally based on how much they have to have dumped on them before they realize "oh shit, I kinda need them, maybe I should engage". However, you will be surprised how much once you get toward the top becomes a game of intentionally not doing anything because of the general chaos that ensues with lack of ability to reallly work out to the T downstream effects.