How to Manage Up, Build Influence, and Grow Your Career | Andrea Wasserman

What if the key to career growth is not working harder, but learning how to manage up with influence and impact?

In this episode of Executive Connect, host Melissa Aarskaug sits down with Andrea Wasserman, Fortune 500 executive, advisor, and founder of The Executive Express, to talk about how leaders can give feedback to their boss, build trust with senior stakeholders, and grow their executive presence. Andrea breaks down what managing up really means, why timing matters, and how rising leaders can become strategic thought partners instead of just task executors.

This conversation is for professionals who want to build influence at work, communicate with more confidence, and move from mid-level management into executive leadership. Andrea also shares how to handle a blocking boss, improve emotional intelligence, and create more visibility without overstepping.

What You Will Learn

• How to manage up without looking like you are sucking up
• Why timing matters when giving feedback to your boss
• How to build influence with senior leaders
• What separates strategic leaders from task doers
• How to grow executive presence inside your company
• What to do when your boss controls communication
• The top career accelerators for rising leaders
• How emotional intelligence helps leaders earn trust

Chapters
(0:32) Why giving feedback to your boss feels risky
(2:55) What managing up really means
(4:05) Why timing matters in upward feedback
(6:13) How strategic thought partners think
(7:49) Building influence without stepping on toes
(9:42) What to do when your boss blocks access
(13:50) Three career accelerators for rising leaders
(17:04) Common blind spots that slow advancement
(18:46) A real executive success story
(22:14) Style flexing and executive presence
(25:12) Emotional intelligence tools for leaders
(27:28) Final advice on managing up
(28:00) What Andrea would tell her younger self

About Andrea Wasserman
Andrea Wasserman is a Fortune 500 executive advisor and founder of The Executive Express. With more than 20 years of leadership experience across major brands and industries, she helps rising leaders strengthen executive presence, build influence, and grow their careers with more clarity and purpose.

CONNECT with Andrea Wasserman
Website: https://www.theexecutiveexpress.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreawasserman/
Instagram: @TheExecutiveExpress
TikTok: @TheExecutiveExpress
YouTube: The Executive Express

CONNECT with Executive Connect
Website: www.executiveconnectpodcast.com
YouTube: Executive Connect YouTube Channel
LinkedIn: Melissa Aarskaug
Instagram: @executiveconnectpodcast
TikTok: @executiveconnectpodcast
Facebook: Executive Connect
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