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That's cool because it means you can actually do that if your manager is bad. In some countries there are no jobs so all you can do about having a bad manager is... nothing.
I quit my job because of my manager. There was a policy of instilling fear to gain control. There was also a push to reduce remote work in the company despite the said remote teams performing well. I quit because the manager was incompetent, but also because the policy was one of instilling fear into employees.
How did they instill fear?
- Reduce flexibility over time
- Every expense needs to be justified a hundred times
- delaying approval of vacation days to the point that you take a vacation, and it is still not approved
- Adding unnecessary process where none is required
- Adding compromised people to the team (limited contract, needs the job desperately, needs a raise for kid's education etc)
- Strict butts-on-seats policy
- Constantly saying that we are going to remove technology , where is what you are hired for. Company will still need for the foreseeable future.
And there are more, but I don't want to re-live dark moments. I hope no one actually tries to implement this stuff, because it shows that your manager is a control-freak, and you need to run for the hills.
There are a lot of people over 40 in tech and some of them are ignorant. They try to manage something they don't know or can't fully understand. I think that's one of the reasons.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How did they instill fear?
Salami tactics. - Reduce flexibility over time - Every expense needs to be justified a hundred times - delaying approval of vacation days to the point that you take a vacation, and it is still not approved - Adding unnecessary process where none is required - Adding compromised people to the team (limited contract, needs the job desperately, needs a raise for kid's education etc) - Strict butts-on-seats policy - Cons…
https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/10/14/the-gervais-principle-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a nice meme from LinkedIn but I'm sure there a few other reasons including a better paycheck, flexibility, or even benefits.
> paycheck, flexibility, or even benefits At many, many companies, your manager directly decides or at least influences all three of these, so if you quit due to them, you're also quitting because of your manager.
They also rarely have much influence over work flexibility or benefits.
Also as a middle manager I can relate to some of the struggles. You will have potentially competing points of view from what your team would like to do and what the company wants them to do.
But also as an additional point of view. As a manager you may have worked your way up the hierarchy learning your craft and honing your skills. Unfortunately very few of these may actually relate to management but at some point you reach that level of seniority and then the company says "here's a team, I'm sure you'll be fine" and leaves it at that very little training or coaching you just now have to learn on the job. Unfortunately unwinding mistakes at a managerial level is very difficult because it invariably had that human component and sometimes we struggle to forgive and forget.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Salami tactics. - Reduce flexibility over time - Every expense needs to be justified a hundred times - delaying approval of vacation days to the point that you take a vacation, and it is still not approved - Adding unnecessary process where none is required - Adding compromised people to the team (limited contract, needs the job desperately, needs a raise for kid's education etc) - Strict butts-on-seats policy - Cons…
You might be interested in reading this: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/10/14/the-gervais-principle-...
That's cool because it means you can actually do that if your manager is bad. In some countries there are no jobs so all you can do about having a bad manager is... nothing.
Like if you have tenure at a University or are in public union.
Seems to me those jobs also often have really bad personal chemistry.