Managing up without sucking up

This article is part of the Contemporary leadership series

When I hear the phrase “managing up,” I automatically think of the seemingly spineless J. Pierrepont Finch who rises from window washer to president of Worldwide Wicket Company in How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.

Finch achieves this remarkable feat through a combination of lying, scheming and manipulating. He tells the head of HR that the CEO said to give him a job when he hadn’t. Then he supports a rival for a promotion, not to be selfless, but because it’s a dead-end job. And when he’s about to get fired, he refers to all his fellow employees as family, saving his skin.

This article originally appeared in Harvard Business Review. Whitney Johnson is a co-founder of Rose Park Advisors, Professor Clayton Christensen’s investment firm, and the author of Dare-Dream-Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream (Bibliomotion, 2012). Follow her on twitter at @johnsonwhitney.