Managing up and down is one of the most valuable — and most challenging — skills you can bring to the workplace. It means building strong relationships in both directions: aligning with your leader’s expectations while guiding and supporting your team. Done well, it builds trust, efficiency and engagement. Done poorly, it leads to frustration and missed goals. 

The secret to managing up and down more effectively? Understanding talent — your own, and your team’s. When you know what drives people, how they think and how they like to work, you can adapt your approach to create better collaboration and results.  

“Managing up and down isn’t a blanket solution,” shares Scott C. Whiteford, Ph.D., Director of Leadership Analytics at Talent Plus. “You can’t say, ‘Here’s how you manage down’ or ‘Here’s how you manage up.’ You’ll manage differently every time, depending on the person and the circumstances.” 

With that in mind, here’s how three Talent Themes — measured through Talent Plus’ Talent Online Assessments — shape how people make decisions, communicate and take action. When leaders understand these patterns, they can predict how people respond under pressure and adjust their approach to get stronger results. 

1. Mission: Driving Alignment Through Purpose 

People strong in Mission seek meaning in their work and want to connect daily tasks to a larger impact. 

Managing up: When your leader is purpose driven, frame updates through mission. Show how your work advances the strategy instead of only sharing status. It helps leaders see your work as part of the organization’s momentum. 

Managing down: Team members high in Mission want context. They do their best work when they understand the “why” behind decisions and how their tasks make an impact. 

Talent takeaway: Purpose-driven employees make decisions that support strategy without constant oversight. 

2. Arranger: Increasing Efficiency Through Strength Coordination 

Arrangers see how people and workflows fit together. They understand who works best where and how to streamline moving parts. 

Managing up: Leaders with Arranger talent want visibility. Show how you are organizing the work, sequencing tasks and using strengths across the team. They trust you more when they see clarity in systems. 

Managing down: As an Arranger, match people to roles that fit their strengths. Let individuals use the abilities they’re known for. It lifts performance and removes unnecessary friction 

Talent takeaway: Arrangers multiply effectiveness by aligning people and priorities. 

3. Developer: Building Capability and Long-Term Performance 

Developers look for potential and invest in growth. They create environments where people improve through steady encouragement and clear feedback. 

Managing up: Highlight growth if your leader values development. Share progress, new skills and process improvements. “It’s essential for leaders to understand the strengths of the people who report to them,” Whiteford notes. Developer-driven managers want proof that you mange with intention. 

Managing down: When you lead with Developer, coach consistently and set growth as a shared goal. This builds more capable teams and a healthier culture. 

Talent takeaway: Teams built by Developers stay longer, improve faster and produce more predictable results. 

Motivation Shapes How People Work 

Talent Themes show what drives people to act. And managing up and down is easiest when you understand those motivations.  

For example: 

• Leaders strong in Competition want to see clear metrics, while those high in Caring respond better to team-centered outcomes. 
• Team members high in Adaptability thrive when plans shift, while others may prefer structure and advance notice. 

Knowing these differences removes guesswork and allows you to manage with intention rather than reaction. 

A More Complete Picture 

Talent is powerful, but it works best when combined with knowledge, skills, experience and alignment. 

“Knowledge, skills and experience are easy to measure; they’re on resumes, and what we talk about in interviews,” Whiteford says. “Alignment is how someone aligns with the environment. It’s the hardest to quantify, but it really matters when it comes to measuring how someone aligns with the job, the team and the situation.” 

When you put it all together, he explains, you get a circle of success that flows into better collaboration and measurable outcomes. 

“Managing up and down is so valuable because leaders need to be able to get the most out of their team members,” Whiteford adds. “But what makes it tricky is that it’s not a blanket skill — what you do depends on what’s happening with the individual you’re managing.” 

Why This Matters Now 

New leaders often underestimate the complexity of this skill. Managing up and down requires balancing expectations from above while guiding the strengths, needs and expectations of a team, and many leaders enter their first management role without these tools.  

“This is a completely new concept to most new leaders,” Whiteford says. “They have no idea how difficult it is.” 

The consequences of that are real. “I’ve watched leaders crash and burn because they used a blanket approach instead of approaching each individual and situation differently,” he adds. “Effective managing up and down is the primary reason young leaders fail.” 

It’s no surprise this topic shows up in nearly every coaching engagement he leads. 

The Power of Understanding Talent 

Leadership is about people, but organizational success is about how well people work together. Talent gives leaders a system for understanding how individuals think, communicate and perform. When leaders manage through talent, they guide teams with less friction and more clarity. 

It also gives leaders a way to anticipate needs, adjust communication, strengthen partnerships and guide performance without guesswork. Combined with knowledge, skills, experience and alignment, it becomes a complete framework for leading well at every level. 

The result is simple. Leaders execute faster, teams align sooner and the organization moves with more confidence. Managing up and down becomes less about balancing demands and more about harnessing the power of talent to create stronger results.