To ask how many of you have actually had a good manager?

One of the best managers I had was a former colleague who got promoted. He was an expert in his field but also knew all the problems our team was facing. He also knew about everyone's strength, weaknesses and career aspirations and tailored his management style accordingly.

The worst one was also an absolute expert with zero people skills. They promoted him so they could pay him more because otherwise he would've left. If he had any ounce of self introspection he would've have never taken the job in the first place or at least taken some people management courses.

I think a lot of managers would be happier and more successful in an expert type of position where they can crack on and acquire more knowledge without having to deal with managing people. Unfortunately some companies don't offer this kind of career progression with the same financial incentives as a team lead.

My current manager is fabulous. He’s a lovely person, good to work with. I’ve been in my job 6 months and it’s the only time a manager has genuinely given me a soft landing into a job and a proper induction. He works with me, gives me clear direction and autonomy. He really values his staff, asks about my wellbeing.

the others though over the last 20 years - I could literally write a book. I’ve had some batshit managers and some crazy situations. I’ve concluded that most people aren’t cut out to manage other people!

I’ve had two or three over the years. Fair, good communicators, flexible, although expect results. The best ones are people from whom you can learn.

I used to be a manager and went on brilliant training course that taught me I have to manage up as well as down.
So that meant accepting my manager was human and could have bad days and make mistakes. But also thinking hard about how I needed to be managed and make them aware of that. Every member of my team needed managing in a different way and I needed to be aware of that so extending it to thinking about yourself wasn't too hard. Some people I would find hard manage and others easy and a new manager might find it the other way round because of their skill set.

I'm in my 50s, almost all of my managers have been good. I can only think of one who wasn't.

I've had 2 stand out managers over the years. The best manager I had was the most difficult to work for, she really pushed me (in a good way) and she really had our back when needed. I got so much out of working for her

I think a lot of issues stem from mismatched expectations. I've made it really clear that I'm happy in my current role and I'm coasting into retirement in 4/5 years, so they more or less leave me alone

I’m a PA so the type of manager is always really important as it’s a close working relationship.

My manager at the moment is great. Considerate, sees me as a person, gives opportunities to develop. We are friends, I’ve spent time with his family. We have worked together for several years and moved companies together.

My last one I thought was great but it was actually unhealthily enmeshed. I took on a lot of the stress of his role that he should have dealt with.

Ones before that were mostly dreadful. Saw me as a piece of furniture almost, knew little about me as a person and really couldn’t care less about any development. They were definitely Number One and I was just a piece of flotsam in their orbit.

I've had some fab managers, male and female, and also some rubbish ones.

My most memorable was a difficult man to work with, but if you worked hard and did your job right, he would give you the best opportunities he could to progress and woebetide anyone who disrespected you or messed you about.

I'm older than most of my recent managers and .maybe that's why they seem less impressive. Perhaps my expectations are too high.

I have had a couple of great managers in recent years. Both of whom gave me the confidence to progress to higher banded posts.
I’ve also had shit managers that I couldn’t speak honestly to and who I was a bit scared of

I think perhaps ‘confident’ was the wrong word. Cocksure perhaps is the right word?

‘I’m right because I’m in charge’ sort of bravado. There are two in my workplace now, well, they try! Young lads, good at organisation and working a computer but terrible at ‘people skills’ and lack experience and ‘people skills’ and experience are incredibly important in the role they’re in!

I’ve had some great managers that I’ve learned loads from and some terrible managers. I’m still really good friends with some ex managers. As a manager myself, I’d probably be described as tough but fair, and I’ve always tried to coach and develop people.

As a PP said, the problem is some people don’t actually want to be a manager but it the only way to get a promotion/ pay rise.

There are also people who get promoted because they’re good at their job and it’s just assumed therefore that they’ll be a good manager. These people often aren’t given any training, so how can they be expected to be good managers?

Having ADHD I have gone through a good few jobs in my life. I'm 48 fwiw.
I've been in steady work since 1999 as I didn't have a good work ethic before I hit 21/22.

1999-2004. Great boss, great job but I was in a shit relationship and couldn't do the job to it's full capacity and then the boss was a dick and I didn't talk to him for years after but we are friends now. He was a friend of my brother.

2007. Horrendous. One of the worst years of my life.

2008-2015. Had a really good relationship with my boss.

Looked after my first born.
Had another child and had pnd.

2018-2019. Awful. Absolutely outrageous behaviour all while my mental health was declining.

2019-2022. Great man!! A true leader of a manager.

Since 2022 I had a terrible time with work which massively knocked my confidence.
Being diagnosed with combined ADHD has helped me understand a lot about my work history and the realisation of not being appropriate for the working environment that I'm used to.
I've always been good at getting jobs, just not keeping them 🤔

I'm in a good place now and I'm starting work soon on a part time basis and will be helping neurodiverse people in a working environment

I have a fantastic manager currently. He is calm, thoughtful, empathetic, capable, blunt and straight talking. Definitely a "leader" type. He keeps me in this job at the moment. With my health issues I'd have quit long ago if I didn't have a manager I trusted.

All managers before this were rotten though lol. Apart from that one time a superviser temporarily became a manager, she was great too, but they hired a different manager who was rubbish.

But my current manager is 10/10.

I've had some wonderful managers and only one really bad one, but doing a lot of get job got me a promotion! 😂 I do work in an industry where the actual job requires a lot of the same skills as people management which I think helps. I'm on reduced hours at the moment due to a health issue and miss it.
My friend works in a technical scientific field and to progress you end up having to manage people which she detests and lots of her colleagues feel the same

I had 1 amazing manager who essentially mentored me and our entire team to look towards what we wanted to learn and how we wanted to develop
Absolutely legendary woman with amazing leadership skills

I had a wonderful line manager in my job before I went on maternity leave and then pt after that. Then I left and went freelance and I miss having her calm, encouraging but firm guidance sometimes.

I find it really hard to respect my Manager. She has narcissistic traits and is a bit of a bully. She also uses passive aggressive techniques to stop you questioning things. She won’t admit when she is wrong and has a spiteful side. I kind of dread every catch up. I like my job though mostly and am hoping she will get restructured out of being my direct boss at some point.

I have had about 20 something managers in my career. Five I would say are or were good managers (current one among them).

I agree with the OP that many managers are not cut out to be one. Technical knowledge and skills are the reason many get promoted, not the ability to deal with people.

My career spans over 30 years and many jobs. I have one standout manager who really mentored me. I only worked for him for 18 months or so and I was devastated when he left. He showed me how I could do things and how to anticipate what those above me needed. He was replaced with an utter arsehole who actually shouted at me in the office in front of my team because I was trying for an internal transfer and he didn’t like it. Just an awful human being.
I’ve had bosses who were good, who I worked well with or who told me I was better than I think I am or gave me opportunity for growth but no one like my mentoring boss. I have never worked for a woman though.

22 years of work and I'm still waiting to find one....

Totally agree !

I had a fantastic manager for many years. She mostly managed the department & left our workloads to us & listened to our needs. We had opportunities, she was approachable about anything. I ended up as her assistant manager. Brilliant manager.

My manager now is a horror. She works remotely 100% and doesn't train us or offer any development or support at all. Doesn't like me because I refuse to be micromanaged - I'm talking list of step by step instructions emailed on how to comple a task - often I've already seen the email drop in & done it! She'll throw us under the bus to save herself. Didn't like it when I fired back (professionally) & called her out on it. I've been in my role for 18 months and still don't understand the proprietary software as if I ask how to do something, I'm told 'get X to do it for you', rather than showing me how. Now, 'X' has just announced she's going on mat leave early next year. I'm going to enjoy my front row seat to none of us knowing what to do & her trying to throw jobs at us and me saying 'i don't know how'. A good manager is defined when staff want to support them & can do their job unsupervised. I will enjoy watching her fail. Which is sad.

I volunteer in a charity. I have two very good managers I have supervisions with. When I worked for the same charity (as a paid member of staff) I had a very good manager. She is no longer in the position due to failing health. These women have drive and ambition, genuinely care about their staff and care about their service users. I think this massively helps. We are allowed to give feedback on their performance with something called "check and challenge" (calling something out if it doesn't sit right or we dont agree) in a healthy way. This leads to less corridor conversations and we all have better communication. Everyone is made aware on policy procedures and we all support each other. We also have a very big environment on wellbeing and flexible hours due to the nature of the charity - which is fighting back against poverty, helping the whole family. There is always something to work towards, progession is talked about a lot, and training is always given.

The best managers I had were in accademia. The culture back then (1990s/2000s) was based on "Here are the tasks and they need to be done by our next meeting at X. If you need any support in the meantime you can contact me," This approach is ideal for someone like me as I am a planner and an organizer. I worked at home for 2/3 days a week (long before it became a thing) with no requirement to be at the computer from 9-5. It was up to me to schedule the tasks in my own way so that they were completed on time to the required statdard. Occasionally I might have to work through a weekend or a holiday to complete a presentation. However I got to go to numerous US and European destinations all expenses paid. If you were travelling international it was taken for granted that you took the days before and after you travelled to pack/prepare and recover from the flight. It was all very civilised.

To be perfectly honest this sounds like the way in which i manage my team, but I don’t know if they’d say I’m great.

Aa a manager, I absorb the gripes about the wider organisation things such as how busy we are.

I try hard to support my team to succeed, I listen to them and advocate for them to those above to fund their development, be super flexible etc… but managing can honestly feel like a very thankless task on occasion. I spend hours praising people - it’s not something we are required to do in the other direction. People can be pretty draining to be honest.