Eng. Manager Guild - [007] Managing up without selling out

Valencia Codes warmly welcomes you to another Engineering Manager Guild event at the offices of Datamaran.

Managing up: Making your boss happy

Managing up means building a good working relationship with your own manager: understanding what they need, communicating in a way that works for them, and making sure your work is visible in the right places.

It sounds simple. In practice, it is one of the most uncomfortable parts of the job. Nobody wants to feel like they are playing politics or managing impressions. But ignoring the relationship with your manager rarely ends well either.

In this session we explore what managing up actually looks like, where the line is between being strategic and being fake, and what happens when your manager is part of the problem.

⚠️ This is not a presentation. There are no slides and no prepared answers. Come ready to share your own experience: the good, the awkward, and the parts you are not proud of.

What is Engineering Manager Guild?
Our aim is to form a strong community of leaders in engineering in Valencia. We'll meet occasionally to share and learn from each other about the non-technical aspects of managing a tech team.

Every month, we'll switch things up: we'll bring in experienced guest speakers from successful companies, form smaller groups for discussions and problem-solving, arrange panels with multiple speakers, etc.

Session lead: César Gómez-Mora
César is the coordinator of the Engineering Manager Guild community. He has spent 25 years in the software industry, most recently leading AI engineering teams at Pearson.

Agenda
18:30 - Arrive (on time is late, we start on the dot)
18:35 - Debate [90 min]