You crushed your goal, closed the deal, solved the problem. Instead of celebrating, your manager looks uncomfortable. Blindsided.
What happened? You surprised them. And managers hate surprises, even good ones.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Sarah had just closed the biggest deal of her career—two weeks ahead of schedule. She walked into the Monday morning team meeting practically floating, ready to share the good news.
Her manager listened with what she expected would be excitement. Instead, his face tightened. After the meeting, he pulled her aside.
“This is great work, Sarah, but I wish you’d given me a heads up. I just told leadership last Friday that we’d close this by month-end. Now I look out of touch with my own team’s performance.”
Sarah was confused. She’d exceeded expectations and somehow created a problem.
Why Good Surprises Create Problems
You hit a target early. Found a creative workaround. Closed a deal they didn’t know was close.
Except they didn’t plan for it. They didn’t align their peers or flag it upward. Now it’s harder to manage the narrative, and managers do manage narratives. Stakeholders get confused, budgets get unbalanced, teams feel out of sync.
Your “win” becomes complicated.
Why Bad Surprises Are Career Killers
If a deadline is missed, a client escalates, or a process fails and your manager hears about it from someone else, that’s not just a setback. It’s a loss of control and credibility hit.
Now they’re reacting instead of managing. Worse, they can’t protect you. They can’t prepare the room, soften the blow, frame the context, or buy you time. You didn’t just surprise them. You left them exposed.
What Managers Actually Want
Foresight. Early signals. A heads-up before impact.
That gives them options. They can shape the story, prepare the environment, buy you cover, amplify your work, or step in if needed. But only if they’re in the loop.
Managers value predictability over brilliance, early warning over heroics, alignment over surprise. They don’t want perfect. They want visibility.
The Signal Language
If things are going well, share early: “We’re ahead of schedule. Might have something to show by Friday.” That’s not bragging, it’s risk reduction.
If things are off track, don’t wait: “I’m seeing some slippage. Can we check in on mitigation?” That’s not weakness, it’s ownership.
If you’re not sure, say so: “There’s movement, but I need a day to see where it’s going.” That’s maturity.
Managers don’t want you to have all the answers. They just want to not be caught off guard.
The Trust Equation
It’s tempting to think results speak for themselves. But inside a system, nothing speaks for itself. Context does, framing does, trust does.
Trust gets built when your manager knows: “If something’s coming, I’ll hear it from them first.”
That’s partnership. That’s how you rise.