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How do you find a good manager?

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Re: How do you find a good manager?

#71

Post by Joel_Mckay »

nohuck13 wrote: post #69
Joel_Mckay wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the best advice, and the logical choice if you want to run things in your own way. One could fight the inertia of a large firm, or simply create an entity that better aligns with your own values and customer needs. A tax strategy driven small business teaches people how to manage projects, and see the stupid manager/worker BS for what it is... no PMP or Phd required... =3

Can you elaborate? What is a tax strategy driven small business?

Essentially, one mitigates the financial risks through tax credits, grants, and labor subsidy programs. i.e. the initial cash burn is money you would have paid in taxes anyway, or simply not purely your own capital.

YMMV depending where you live, and your groups financial situation.

You would be mistaken if you think only "small" firms operate this way... =)

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#72

Post by robertlagrant »

legitster wrote: post #67
fatnoah wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen it go both ways. I once worked at a large (> $100B market cap) tech company and had the opposite experience. I had several interactions with C-Suite and the level below and my main takeaway was that "holy cow, they get it!". Now, the layers between me and them were another story. It was amazing to have the experience of my manager talking about our tech/product strategy, and then to hear it from someone sev…

When I started my career there was still a sense of agility and meritocracy in tech that made it super appealing. But that vibe feels very much gone now. Of the last 3-4 CEOs I worked under - not a single one actually built a company or rose up through the ranks. All of them started their careers in consulting or management. So not saying they can't be good CEOs or leaders, or that there are companies that aren't exc…

> tech industry is overall shifting towards management/labor class divisions

I think it's very easy to slip into this way of thinking, but I think it depends on the company. Any company big and rich enough will start to have the same inefficiencies and inappropriate leadership appointments as any large org or even government will. If money is easy to come by, people who don't create value can thrive.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#73

Post by robertlagrant »

hinkley wrote: post #43
m348e912 wrote: post #33

This is a great discussion. Good managers can insulate you from bad companies and bad managers can ruin your experience in a great company. I would go as far as to say the person you work for is more important in some cases than the company you work for. Here are some thoughts. Companies aren't always clear on who you would be reporting to during the hiring process. This isn't always intentional, but org structures a…

People don't quit bad companies, they quit bad managers.

Yep. I did this.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#74

Post by chasd00 »

tracker1 wrote: post #37
apwell23 wrote: post #30

Tangential. i have too much pride, introversion and embarrassment to 'suck up'. This has greatly hindered my career ( and my earnings). I know what the sucking up process is and how to execute it but have psychological block actually doing it. Any advice from ppl who've dealt with this?

There's a difference between "sucking up" and being polite/courteous and respectful. For me, arrogance has always been a bit of a trigger. I can work with most people, but when someone is both arrogant and less than competent it irks me to no end. My advice is try to always assume the best possible interpretation of any given person's motives in a workplace. Try to be friendly.

I have zero tolerance for an arrogant manager/Sr. X dressing down a more junior resource willing and eager to learn and get better. I have a reputation for patience, compassion, and a calming effect on clients and team except in this case. I could probably handle it better but one thing about putting someone on a cross for all to see is they're on a cross for all to see.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#75

Post by apwell23 »

snapcaster wrote: post #70
apwell23 wrote: post #30

Tangential. i have too much pride, introversion and embarrassment to 'suck up'. This has greatly hindered my career ( and my earnings). I know what the sucking up process is and how to execute it but have psychological block actually doing it. Any advice from ppl who've dealt with this?

I think you should look a bit deeper. Your comment seems to imply if you would just suck it up everything would be perfect but I'm skeptical that it's true

I agree its a necessary but not sufficient condition. I think phrase 'sucking up' seems to have triggered people. I should've said 'building trust and camaraderie' with my superiors, aka being one of the 'bros' in their inner circle .

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#76

Post by [deleted] »

glitchc wrote: post #25
jhatemyjob wrote: post #23

You find a good manager the same way you would find a good IC: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QplyFXgIx7Q

That's great, but the video goes on to say that he hired a trained manager (an MBA) with zero experience in manufacturing to manage the Macintosh manufacturing team... So, do as I say not as I do?

[deleted]

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#77

Post by apwell23 »

tracker1 wrote: post #37
apwell23 wrote: post #30

Tangential. i have too much pride, introversion and embarrassment to 'suck up'. This has greatly hindered my career ( and my earnings). I know what the sucking up process is and how to execute it but have psychological block actually doing it. Any advice from ppl who've dealt with this?

There's a difference between "sucking up" and being polite/courteous and respectful. For me, arrogance has always been a bit of a trigger. I can work with most people, but when someone is both arrogant and less than competent it irks me to no end. My advice is try to always assume the best possible interpretation of any given person's motives in a workplace. Try to be friendly.

> Try to be friendly.

I am already friendly. I am not convinced that merely being friendly will get you to your VPs 'inner circle'.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#78

Post by tracker1 »

apwell23 wrote: post #77
tracker1 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a difference between "sucking up" and being polite/courteous and respectful. For me, arrogance has always been a bit of a trigger. I can work with most people, but when someone is both arrogant and less than competent it irks me to no end. My advice is try to always assume the best possible interpretation of any given person's motives in a workplace. Try to be friendly.

> Try to be friendly. I am already friendly. I am not convinced that merely being friendly will get you to your VPs 'inner circle'.

If your goal is to get into an executive's inner circle, that's a purely political move and will take playing politics... unless you're already a direct report for your current position.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#79

Post by apwell23 »

strgcmc wrote: post #48
apwell23 wrote: post #30

Tangential. i have too much pride, introversion and embarrassment to 'suck up'. This has greatly hindered my career ( and my earnings). I know what the sucking up process is and how to execute it but have psychological block actually doing it. Any advice from ppl who've dealt with this?

I would actually encourage you to zoom out 1 or 2 levels, and instead of focusing on the "how to get better at 'sucking up'" problem, I would instead coach you to think about why you chose to apply this specific mental model to your career, and why this form of "black-and-white" thinking might be hurting you even more (as a general theme, where "suck up" is just one specific example). I am 99.9% certain that, the ove…

I came across an interesting stat

"90% of Fortune 500 CEOs play golf and over 80% of executives say that golf played an important role in their career"

What do you make of this.

Re: How do you find a good manager?

#80

Post by galdosdi »

SoftTalker wrote: post #56
chairmansteve wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start your own business.

Then you have to suck up to clients/customers. And they're often way more demanding and irrational than managers in a company.

At least there's N instead of 1 of them, so any given asshole's relative importance is only 1/N to keeping your "job"
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