How to Increase Your Work Visibility as a Software Developer Without a Helpful Manager
Learn the steps to obtain maximum growth opportunities and strive in your career, even if your manager is not comfortable with it
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Recently I wrote an article about how developers can expedite their career progression without switching jobs frequently. To grow within the company gaining maximum visibility at the senior leadership level is a must. To that point, one of my readers asked the following question:
And regarding this, how do we do it? I mean, our direct manager sort of knows us but the skip level ones needn’t right?
So I mean how exactly to go about doing this (also without slighting or offending the direct manager)
It is an excellent question. Many programmers have this query or face similar challenges— how can they increase their visibility at the senior leadership level without offending their direct manager.
There can be many reasons why your reporting manager might not be cozy with the idea of you becoming familiar with their managers. It can be because they fear losing control over the team. Or, they might be afraid their incompetency will be exposed.
In such cases, how would a developer increase their visibility in the company and especially with the senior leaders? And, while doing so, how can they make sure that their direct manager is not offended.
I have had my fair share of managers in the last 15 years of my software career. Some of them were excellent and encouraged skip-level discussions. But many were not comfortable with the idea.
With experience, I have managed to learn the tricks to establish a rapport with the skip level. Here are a few practical steps that can help you increase your visibility with the senior leaders without hurting your manager’s ego.
Ask Your Manager For Help
Wait! The question is about how to increase work visibility without offending the direct manager. In that case, how can you ask for help if the manager is not comfortable with the idea of you reaching out beyond them?
