“Managing Upward” is part of just about every job I’ve ever had or seen. Influencing what your manager (or their manager, or their manager’s manager) needs to know, needs to decide on, or needs to escalate further is a critical part of getting things done in any hierarchical organization. When you work for someone, they are relying on you to apply a sane filter/judgment over the details coming up, just as much you rely on them to filter the shit that’s coming down. They also rely on you to “own” and take bold action on those things that are in their blind spots. The other comment about Jobs “not seeing obvious things and also seeing things nobody sees” is exactly right and applies to all good leaders.
