When Your Boss Just Doesn't Get It (And How to Fix That)

Picture this: You just saved a million-dollar client from churning. Crisis averted, relationship stronger than ever. Your boss's response? "Great, so they're renewing early, right?"

And there it is—that gut punch moment. Three months of relationship-building, crisis-prevention, and strategic brilliance reduced to a simple transaction. If you want to scream right now, you're not alone. You're about to learn why this keeps happening and how to flip it forever.

Highlights

(Key insights with timestamps)

• (0:00) The numbers-obsessed boss problem: When strategic work gets ignored
• (2:03) Reality check: Why managing up is harder than managing clients
• (2:34) Your boss's hidden pressure: Understanding their quarterly reality
• (3:00) The invisible work trap: Why relationship-building doesn't show up in CRM
• (4:25) Lost in translation: When you speak relationships but they speak revenue
• (5:03) The 30-second elevator update: How to talk accounts with numbers
• (7:22) Strategy flip: Stop educating, start empowering your boss
• (8:13) Visibility over credit: Making your results impossible to ignore
• (11:55) Game-changer mindset: Treat your boss like your top client
• (12:55) Complementary leadership: How to fill your boss's gaps
• (13:17) Boss stakeholder mapping: Identify their real wins and priorities
• (14:09) The golden rule: Make their life easier, not harder

Resources

(Tools to master upward management)

• Book: Managing Up: How to Move up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss  by Mary Abbajay (Link)
• Video: Workplace Survival Kit: 4 Strategies for Handling Your Difficult Boss
• Video: How to Play Office Politics and WIN
• Free Template: Manager Approval Toolkit for The KAM Club

Your Boss-Alignment Action Plan

(Start today in 15 minutes)

• Dollarize Your Day: For 3 recent client interactions, calculate:

• Craft a CEO-Ready Slide: Using ChatGPT/Gamma.app, summarize one account in:

1. Revenue status
2. Pipeline value
3. Next-quarter dollar opportunity

• Ask Your Boss: "What’s one thing I could include in updates to make your leadership meetings easier?"

• Map Their Wins: Identify what your boss needs to hit their bonus this quarter.

Turn Bosses into Champions

• Join the Movement: The KAM Club → Live coaching + resource library + "Office Politics" playbook
• Free Access: ⁠Manager Approval Toolkit⁠ (Get work to fund your membership)

🚀 Stop waiting for your boss to speak your language. Start speaking theirs. The work doesn't change—but the recognition will.