When your boss’s direction seems wrong, saying so can feel risky, especially when you and your boss have different expectations about authority, disagreement, and saving face. But managing up isn’t just about adapting to your boss; it’s also about helping them see when another path is better. This means making your concerns clear, grounding them in evidence, explaining the risks of the current plan, and proposing a practical alternative in a way your boss can hear. Across cultures, there’s no single script for challenging authority. Cultural intelligence helps you choose the right moment, tone, and approach, so you can disagree directly without making the disagreement personal, and move the work toward a better decision.
In my career I've been in a leadership positions in 3 different continents working with people from around the world. They were coming to me with their aspirations and problems and I wanted to address them as best as I could. I've read much in this topic and it made me such an expert that I've lead multiple trainings and workshops with developers and managers of broad seniority (from juniors to senior directors).
