Comment by Twirrim

Which is why you both listen to what they say, and pay attention to what they do, and what they prioritise. You use the actions to figure out where they were coming from with the message, and then you adapt your message to suit that.

> Which for many engineers who got into this industry because they loved solving problems, it can be quite a shocking realization.

It's just another problem to solve, based on the same foundational skill set you develop as an engineer: Observation, interpretation, analysis, experimentation, and implementation.

All-hands meetings are boring as hell, but they'll give me all sorts of signal about various managers up the line. I'll also take any opportunity I can get to be "in the room where it happens" when decisions are made (or speak to people who were in the room) while I'm building up a mental picture of what motivates someone.

If they're glory hunters, I'll figure out how to pitch my thing as something they can brag about. If they're people oriented (rare, but it happens), I'll pitch the human impact angle. If they're money pinchers, it's all about that $/month savings figure, put it front and centre in the opening sentence.

Everyone has an angle, a bias of some description. If you watch what projects do and don't get approved, and what language was used in them, you'll be successful too.