So you walk into a boardroom for your project kickoff meeting or manager catch up and are faced with a wall of middle aged men. Your anxiety spikes a little despite the fact you've done this before and are confident in what you're saying. Suddenly you're conscious of how young you look and whether that reeks of inexperience. The marketing and creative Account and Project Management domain is predominantly led by females, and it can be damn daunting when faced with men of power - whether that's client side or within your own company. This is a reflection in how I (a young, female project manager) have dealt managing men up the ladder within agency-land.
Hash out the facts
No surprise, men dominate positions of power within the marketing industry despite the fact that two-thirds of the industry is female. In fact, 62% of marketing based organisations with a single director or manager are lead by males.
I don't need to explain why this is this the case or why it needs to change. I'm sure you get it and that's not the point of this article. The point is, as a young female professional I've learnt a few takeaways in my time. I worked in three agencies all of which ran by men and have had to manage up internally to achieve project outcomes.
Shifting my mentality
When I started my second role in the digital marketing industry I was 21. It was pretty blatant in my interview that I needed to manage up. Huh? Yeah, I had to manage the Founder/Director of the agency. Tell him what to do, what I needed and when it was due. He was notoriously bad at actually following through.
It took me some time to come to terms with the fact I had to manage my manager. It felt unnatural and demanding. However within a matter of weeks my mentality totally changed. I realised that as an account manager my main goal was completing a project on time, to scope and within budget. It requires a bit of give and take, but at the end of the day if I needed my boss to just do the work. It was a non-negotiable for me to do my job.
Once I was onboard with this whole manage up business, then it was a case of actually executing on it.
Bit of banter
What really helped my disposition about the whole matter was understanding my boss on a more personal level. Not saying we shared vacations or intimate details about our lives. We just naturally developed a knowledge about each others personalities and work style.
I didn't do this at the time but implementing my personality strategy workshop on him would've helped speed things up.
Do they prefer email over face-to-face
Are you okay to micromanage or do they prefer generalised feedback or direction?
Are they impulsive or easily distracted?
Should we collaborate or leave him to work alone?
It broke down the barriers of 'man in power' to just my manager, ol' mate. We found a mutual understanding on how to work together and when.
I will add, I'm super lucky that all my male managers have been incredibly lovely people and easy to build rapport with #blessed.
Need to know basis
Understanding his goals as a manager were pretty important. He didn't need to hear the full sha-bang on how my project was tracking, just the highlights. I tailored information specific to him and clearly detailed output I was expecting as part of his involvement in my project.
I quickly built up trust and respect. He had confidence in my approach to management and knew his part in that process (whether it was big or small). We were both busy bees, so this also ensured we were respectful of each others time.
Be prepared
I used to hold back my full opinion in management and team meetings due to the senior, male opinions in the room. We had some assertive personalities that can make you feel over shadowed or intimidated. However over time I started speaking up and pushing back with facts or context to frame my perspectives. I personally like to feel prepared, so would research and prep prior to the event to help me feel more confident and get my point accross.
Say what you mean
One of the most liberating things I started doing was turning down meetings that my boss invited me to join. Seems a bit risky if the head-honcho is asking me to join right? But I reached a point where I put my own priorities as an account manager first
At the end of the day I have a set of goals I need to achieve for myself, the company and my clients. 'Important' meetings could usually wait and I'd postpone with my boss for another time. In other instances, I honestly didn't think I'd be adding a great deal of value to the meeting. Why waste my time and my bosses money when I could be achieving something more valuable? The first few times I said no, it provoked an iffy reaction from my manager. But I stood my ground and over time he came to see this as a positive. Me being a better account manager, putting my prioritises first.
You do you
I once read that young, female professionals should always tie their hair up in meetings or for serious chats with management. It's so you don't play with loose strands and end up looking immature or young. Hair back is stern and professional apparently. What the actual f**k did I just read. Sure I kind of get it, but really? I think I'm capable of wearing my hair down and still nailing a chat with my manager.
Back when I first started I took this kind of thing more seriously. I face palm now at the thought of not just owning who I was and being confident. Ultimately if you're good at what you do and manage up based on achieving the best outcomes, then your execution will speak for itself and your manager will see and respect that.
