Is managing up and influencing decision makers one of your key challenges?   Executive coach and best-selling author Marshall Goldsmith provided some great advice in a recent Harvard Business Blog.  His suggestions include:

• When presenting ideas to upper management, realize that it is your responsibility to sell — not their responsibility to buy.
• Focus on contribution to the larger good — not just the achievement of your objectives.
• Present a realistic cost-benefit analysis of your ideas — don’t just sell benefits.

Check out his post: How to Influence Decision Makers. 

For more on the topic, download my article on Gaining Executive Support.