About this course
Leading up means influencing the people who have power over you. For ENRICH Outsiders, the people whose ethnicity, nationality, race, identity, culture or heritage sits outside what their workplace treats as the default, the same move can be read in two different ways, and the cost of that gap shows up in reviews, promotions and access. This course is the career manual nobody handed you: nine Keys for managing the relationship with your boss, every framework drawn, and every Key read across all six dimensions of the ENRICH Framework.
It starts with the ground every Key stands on: what leading up means, why your boss is the gate, the ENRICH Outsider and the ENRICH Tax, and the line the whole course holds, adaptation without assimilation. Then the nine Keys, each taught the same way: the idea, a story from Duane's career, the tools, the read across ENRICH, a full case you decide before you hear what happened, a short practice on your own work, and the bottom line.
Keys 1 to 3 are the foundation: lead and manage yourself, accept that your boss is your boss, and never complain about your boss. Keys 4 to 6 work the relationship: make your boss look good, think and act like the owner, and take initiative without walking onto a glass cliff. Keys 7 to 9 are about how you are read: keeping your boss in the loop, the line between entitlement and self-advocacy, and offering solutions with your name on them.
It closes with what every Key comes back to: lateral aggression from peers, the receipts practice, when leaving is the strategy and how to leave on your terms, building your people on purpose, and a 30-day plan with one commitment.
Who it is for
- ENRICH Outsiders who do strong work and still find it misread, under-credited or invisible to the people who decide.
- Anyone early or mid-career who wants a deliberate strategy for the relationship with their boss.
- Managers and mentors who want to understand what the people they lead are carrying.
Learning objectives and outcomes
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Name what is happening. Use the ENRICH Framework and the language of the ENRICH Tax to describe a workplace moment precisely, by dimension and facet.
- Lead yourself first. Count what you carry, decide once instead of every time, and run the Mirror Test.
- Read the power and build around it. Accept the reality of your boss without accepting the injustice, and define the vague words that decide your reviews.
- Turn frustration into a move. Use RISE instead of venting, and pass the four gates before you go over a head.
- Make the exchange visible. Anticipate, frame your contribution, and build a Visibility Safety Net that does not depend on one person.
- Ask, update and propose so it lands. Keep your boss in the loop without the surprise, ask for what you earned with a number, and frame solutions so your name stays on them.
- Protect yourself and plan. Keep receipts, recognize lateral aggression, run the Exit Assessment, and commit to one practice for the next 30 days.
What is included
The Participant Booklet is the knowledge companion: every Key, every framework drawn, the scripts and the receipts practice, with a Quick Reference Guide at the end. The Participant Workbook is where you do the practice: the hallway question, the ENRICH Tax inventory, the drills for each Key, and your 30-day commitment. The videos tell you when to pause and turn to a page. Nothing you write is collected.
Chapters
25 chapters, 3 h 05 min of video.
- 00Welcome7:03
Why this course exists, the two curricula, your hallway question, and what you walk away with.
- 01What Leading Up Means7:12
The definition, why your boss is the gate, why a new word, and the ENRICH Framework with its facets.
- 02The ENRICH Outsider and the ENRICH Tax6:17
Who this course is for, and what the tax costs, line by line.
- 03One Umbrella, One Line5:52
The ENRICH umbrella, adaptation not assimilation, five things you adjust at work, and the nine Keys as a climb.
- 04Key 1: Influence Yourself First8:15
Self-leadership beyond time management, protective invisibility, a decision protocol and the Mirror Test.
- 05Key 1: The Case of Amara8:13
"Too direct," and the Context Bridge.
- 06Key 2: Your Boss Is Your Boss9:05
Acceptance is not agreement, organizational justice, four responses to injustice, the double bind and six moves.
- 07Key 2: The Case of Marcus6:30
Three bosses, one word, and defining the word.
- 08Key 3: Never Complain About Your Boss7:04
Venting as a transaction, direction, the RISE Method, and frustration versus violation.
- 09Key 3: The Skip-Level Mistake7:01
Four gates before you go over a head, and the Vent Map.
- 10Key 4: Make Your Boss Look Good6:32
Exchange or extraction, in-groups and out-groups, four boss types and the adaptation spectrum.
- 11Key 4: Once Burned8:29
The Anticipation Map, the Contribution Frame and the Visibility Safety Net.
- 12Key 5: Think and Act Like the Owner8:04
Psychological ownership, the ownership chain, two codes in one person, and "stay in your lane."
- 13Key 5: The Reluctant Contributor6:14
Kerwin's case, and answering "stay in your lane."
- 14Key 6: Take Initiative7:35
The initiative paradox, the four tightropes, the Partnership Preframe and the Glass Cliff Evaluation.
- 15Key 6: The Glass Cliff6:52
Araceli's case, the five gates and the Recovery Lead brief.
- 16Key 7: Keep Your Boss in the Loop8:41
High and low context, the Three Lenses, fragility reflexes, the PAUSE Protocol and update techniques.
- 17Key 7: The 6:47 AM Reply7:45
The same update read differently across ENRICH, Reginald's case, and problem-forward to solution-forward.
- 18Key 8: Don't Feel and Act Entitled8:56
Entitlement or self-advocacy, the Privilege of Assumed Belonging, the asking tools and sponsors.
- 19Key 8: The Same Question, Twice6:51
Destiny's case, and three questions with one number.
- 20Key 9: Offer Solutions, Not Just Problems8:19
Why solutions lose their author, co-cultural theory, and framing to their goal.
- 21Key 9: The Post-Mortem8:45
Five moves that protect authorship, Quinn's case, and the Solution Audit.
- 22When the Pressure Comes From Beside You5:41
Lateral aggression, and why shared identity is not shared loyalty.
- 23The Receipts, and When Leaving Is the Strategy7:03
A dated email to yourself, the Exit Assessment, and leaving on your terms.
- 24Your People, and Your Plan6:54
Community on purpose, the Mirror Test again, your hallway question answered, and your 30-day commitment.