Manipulation is mainly considered to have a negative connotation.
One online definition I found states  ” the action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way”.

I would argue, unsucessfully so far, that if your manipulation is clever (but not unscrupulous) it is not bad nor a behaviour to be avoided but rather, used in the right context (cleverly) it can be helpful.

Motivation, goals and manipulation

All human behaviour is motivated by something.  In a circular argument I would say even “no reason” is a reason.  The motivation is explained by the goal being sought.

If manipulation is the tool employed to achieve the goal you are motivated toward, I see nothing wrong with that, provided it is not done unscrupulously.  Clever, is the byword and my hat is off to clever people.  Good for you.

Manipulation or Influencing

Whether your base behaviour is to cleverly manipulate or influence an outcome, I postulate that all human behaviours contain some element of these practices.

That is, everything a person does is motivated, it is directed toward goal achievement and manipulation or influencing is required to try and achieve it, always.

Even if the result is not the original  goal (and often we don’t even conciously know what that was) some form of manipulative or influential behaviours will have been employed.

My days are filled with manipulative behaviour, of the clever sort, and I am proud of it.