Learning to be managed
medium.com
Learning to be managed
1–10 of 39 posts
Re: Learning to be managed
#2Hi HN,
First time sharing anything I have written.
Lately I have been wondering about how to be managed properly. I feel like I have not gotten what I wanted out of my career.
This is my attempt at learning more about the subject, and sharing with people that are going through a similar struggle.
Hope that it is useful. :)
Re: Learning to be managed
#3Thanks, we need more articles like these.
Re: Learning to be managed
#4That's an interesting post, especially in the context of being promoted. After being in the industry for many years, I'm just now becoming aware of this stuff, particularly as it relates to the promotion culture and "making impact". Google is famously known for shipping, but not maintaining.
"Managing up" is a useful concept for how to interact with your managers. Post from a few years back that has useful sources: Design Patterns for managing up [0]. Hand in hand goes this Australian Gov't work book for Assertiveness:
> Assertiveness means expressing your point of view in a way that is clear and direct, while still respecting others.
0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18988939
1: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-You...
Re: Learning to be managed
#5That's an interesting post, especially in the context of being promoted. After being in the industry for many years, I'm just now becoming aware of this stuff, particularly as it relates to the promotion culture and "making impact". Google is famously known for shipping, but not maintaining. "Managing up" is a useful concept for how to interact with your managers. Post from a few years back that has useful sources: D…
Thank you for sharing these sources with me! I will have a look.
I would not say I am trying to "manage up", but I am definitely trying to be a lot more active in my growth process. In the past I kept waiting for things to happen, and thought my manager would have all the answers. Now, I want to be an active part of that conversation and find the right path.
Re: Learning to be managed
#6Great managers will feel natural to work with. You won't have to learn how to work with them because they'll meet you as a person and guide you toward succeeding in your role as needed.
Unfortunately, many managers are not natural managers but have instead learned how to "manage" from books, blogs, podcasts, and trying to imitate people they see as powerful.
My biggest lifehack for dealing with these people is to learn what books and other resources they used to teach themselves management, then study what those books portray as the ideal employee. Your job is now to play the role of that ideal employee and set the stage for the manager to feel like the ideal manager. It takes a bit of restraint and the performance can feel fake at times, but as long as you play the role they want to see and you make it easy for them to play the role they think they should play, you're going to do well in their eyes.
At minimum, I suggest every employee read a couple books like the Manager's Path book linked in the article so it's easier to identify when weak managers are trying to implement things they read from a book. It's like a cheat code to navigating managers who outsource their thinking to books and try to reduce every situation to something they read or heard a podcast about.
In my last case, my manager read a book about all about how managers shouldn't solve problems for their employees, they should only give coaching for employees to solve their own problems. He went full cargo cult on that advice and literally stopped helping us get things done within the company. His only response to any issues we raised would be a long string of leading questions and coaching, but he refused to actually do anything. I fought this for a long time until he mentioned the name of the book, I read it, and I realized that I had to start making him think that he was coaching me to a solution whenever I really needed him to use his position to do his job. It took some mental gymnastics, but after I unlocked his secret I became good at navigating around him to get things done.
Re: Learning to be managed
#7Great managers will feel natural to work with. You won't have to learn how to work with them because they'll meet you as a person and guide you toward succeeding in your role as needed. Unfortunately, many managers are not natural managers but have instead learned how to "manage" from books, blogs, podcasts, and trying to imitate people they see as powerful. My biggest lifehack for dealing with these people is to lea…
I really admire those with the ability to conform themselves to a work place to be successful. I've always been candid, and I am occasionally at odds with management when polite lies are expected. Those I've managed appreciate the sincerity, but I would hardly describe my career as successful.
Re: Learning to be managed
#8the management techniques mentioned in the article are all valid but
i'm going to play devils advocate here and say that not getting that promotion isn't necessarily a failure, rather the goal was not realistic.
Don't assume that whether or not you get a promotion is always in your control. Don't assume your performance rating is entirely in your control or even mostly in your control. sometimes you can perform really well and it won't get you anything. and sometimes you can perform mediocre and still get lots of promotions and bonuses.
and why do you really want to get a promotion? if you just want more money, the most effective way to achieve that is to look for another job. doing that, you'll get far larger raises far more quickly.
Re: Learning to be managed
#9the management techniques mentioned in the article are all valid but i'm going to play devils advocate here and say that not getting that promotion isn't necessarily a failure, rather the goal was not realistic. Don't assume that whether or not you get a promotion is always in your control. Don't assume your performance rating is entirely in your control or even mostly in your control. sometimes you can perform reall…
I did my best at not being promoted. Promotion equals change. I really liked my salary and remote position. Any extra responsibility would require me to do more work. Sure, I'd get paid more but the stress would outweigh the pay.
If you're ever down with not getting a promotion, just know that there are ways to think about it that might be constructive.
Re: Learning to be managed
#10the management techniques mentioned in the article are all valid but i'm going to play devils advocate here and say that not getting that promotion isn't necessarily a failure, rather the goal was not realistic. Don't assume that whether or not you get a promotion is always in your control. Don't assume your performance rating is entirely in your control or even mostly in your control. sometimes you can perform reall…
I did my best at not being promoted. Promotion equals change. I really liked my salary and remote position. Any extra responsibility would require me to do more work. Sure, I'd get paid more but the stress would outweigh the pay. If you're ever down with not getting a promotion, just know that there are ways to think about it that might be constructive.
This is where I am. I'm remote senior level and got offered principal but 3 days in office which would mean moving cities and WAY more pressure in a department that's had issues. Probably a 50k raise but I'm doing fine as is. I'll keep my sanity.