How to Impress Your Manager: Lessons I Learned Over 20 Years in Corporate Life
Practical communication habits that helped me build trust, earn promotions, and grow my career over two decades.
Quick Answer: How you impress your manager at work?
If you want to impress your manager, don’t just work harder. Understand how they communicate, align your work with their priorities, bring solutions instead of problems, set clear expectations, and communicate progress regularly. These habits build trust and make your contributions more visible.
Over the course of my 20-year corporate career, I’ve worked for many different managers. Some believed I was one of their strongest performers. They groomed me and trusted me with important work. I really looked forward to working with them every day.
With others, the experience was completely different. We rarely saw eye to eye. In one role, I was promoted quickly and received significant salary increases. In another, I was rated as “Does Not Meet Expectations.” Same person, same effort. What was actually different?”
It took me years to realise that hard work alone wasn’t getting me anywhere. What mattered was understanding what success looked like through my manager’s eyes.
Let me talk about what I have followed throughout my career and how it has benefited me.
How to Read Your Manager’s Communication Style
The first thing I try to understand whenever I start working with a new manager is their social style.
A simple framework I like is:
- Expressive – Values ideas, vision, and enthusiasm. Enjoys brainstorming and big-picture thinking.
- Analytical – Wants facts, data, and evidence before making decisions.
- Driver (Leader) – Focused on results, speed, and getting things done.
- Amiable – Values relationships, collaboration, and team harmony.
Before trying to understand your manager, it’s equally important to understand your own communication style.
Early in my career, I was almost entirely Expressive. I loved using diagrams, visuals, and storytelling in presentations. I would spend hours making reports look engaging because that’s how I naturally communicated.
Over time, I realised that the managers who praised my work and gave me opportunities were Expressive themselves. They enjoyed the way I presented ideas because it aligned with their thinking.
But the managers who rated my performance lower were usually different. Many were highly analytical. Polished slides and creative explanations didn’t land with them. They just wanted the facts and a clear next step. I was not giving them information in the way they preferred.
With practice, I learned to communicate comfortably across all four social styles. Instead of relying on my natural preferences, I adapted my approach to match what each manager valued most. That made me consistently deliver my message in a way that resonated.
Understand What Your Manager Is Measured On
I still remember my first year as an Information Security Manager. My performance was measured against a handful of critical KPIs, including:
- No critical or high-severity cybersecurity incidents.
- Any security incident to be contained and remediated within 24 hours.
- Improve the organisation’s cybersecurity maturity from 1.5 to 2.5.
These KPIs determined how my performance was evaluated.
When I set objectives for my team, I made sure they directly contributed to these KPIs. Looking back, I also realised that I subconsciously viewed the people who consistently helped me achieve those goals as my highest performers.
That experience also changed how I saw my own manager. At the time, I reported to the Head of IT. I knew my KPIs were only one part of his much broader responsibilities. He was accountable for delivering multiple technology programs across the organisation, and cybersecurity was just one of them.
Once I understood that, my approach changed. Instead of simply delivering cybersecurity initiatives, I focused on making them easy for the rest of the IT organisation to adopt. I streamlined our processes and minimised the effort required from other teams. That allowed the broader IT team to stay focused on their own priorities while still improving the organisation’s security posture.
My manager noticed and started trusting me with bigger responsibilities because I was making his job easier, not just my own
If you want to impress your manager, don’t just understand your own KPIs. Understand theirs. Make your manager’s job easier, and you won’t need to ask for recognition.It finds you.
Related: This is closely linked to stakeholder management. If you’re interested, read Stakeholder Engagement vs Communication: What Most Projects Get Wrong, where I explain why understanding people’s priorities matters more than simply keeping them informed.
Bring Solutions Instead of Problems
One of the most valuable career lessons I ever received came during my first job after university.
I was working as a Cybersecurity Engineer and, like most junior engineers, whenever I found a problem, I immediately escalated it to my manager. I thought that was my job.
During my first performance review, my manager said something that has stayed with me ever since:
“Don’t tell me why it can’t be done. Tell me how it can be done.”
As I became more experienced, I realised my value wasn’t in spotting problems. Plenty of people could do that. It was in showing up with a solution attached.
There were many occasions when I had to tell senior leaders that we had a significant gap in our cybersecurity posture. But instead of stopping there, I would continue with something like:
“We have a gap, but we can reduce the risk immediately by implementing these compensating controls. They won’t eliminate the problem completely, but they’ll significantly reduce the risk for the next 12 to 18 months while we build a business case for a permanent solution.”
Instead of creating another problem for management to solve, I was helping them make an informed decision.
Problems are a given. Every manager expects them. What actually impresses them is someone who walks in with the trade-offs already worked out
Finally, setting clear expectations from day one and communicating your progress proactively are equally important.
Set Clear Expectations from Day One
One of the biggest reasons employees underperform is because they and their manager have different expectations of what success looks like. Early in every role, I make it a point to clarify priorities, deliverables, and how success will be measured. It saves months of misunderstandings.
Related: If you’re starting a new role, read my First 30 Days at Work Checklist for practical tips on building trust from day one.
Communicate Progress Proactively
Don’t wait for your manager to ask for an update. Throughout my career, I’ve found that short, regular updates on progress, risks, and next steps build far more trust than detailed reports at the end.
Related: I’ve covered both of these habits in more detail in my article on How to Ask for a Pay Raise, because they play a huge role in how your manager evaluates your performance.
Looking back, the managers who supported my career weren’t looking for the smartest person in the room. They were looking for someone they could trust.
Those lessons took me years to learn the hard way. Hopefully, this saves you some of that time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The best way to impress your manager is to understand their priorities, communicate clearly, deliver consistently, and bring solutions instead of just problems. Managers value employees they can trust and rely on.
Not always. Hard work is important, but managers also look for communication, ownership, reliability, and the ability to solve problems independently.
Most managers value employees who understand business priorities, take ownership of their work, keep stakeholders informed, deliver on commitments.
Make thoughtful recommendations instead of simply escalating issues.
Start by understanding your manager’s communication style and expectations. Regularly share progress, ask for feedback, and focus on helping them achieve their goals as well as your own.
Related Articles
If you found this article helpful, you may also enjoy:
- How to Handle Difficult Conversations at Work
- Your First 30 Days at a New Job: A Communication Checklist for Success
Ready to master your workplace communication?
- Download the Recroot App to practice difficult conversations on Google Play or the Apple App Store.