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

I've had a good mixture I think, people that have been outstanding, others not so good. I always thought that I learned something from every manager. Sometimes it would be learning about the person I want to be and how to do things well, other times I would learn about how I don't want to be and how that kind of behaviour impacted others. I've only once had a manager who was dire. The incompetence, blame culture and rudeness was beyond words. This one taught me I believe in karma, and I waited patiently with my popcorn....

Thinking back I've had 2 , maybe 3 good managers.
That's over a 30 year period.

Have had many bad managers, but they've all been bad in different ways 😬.
Current manager is bad.

My current manager is very nice, helpful, give good explanation but unfortunately he is only there as a maternity leave replacement. I am dreading when she will be back from maternity leave as in comparison to him she is not helpful do not explain anything. I find women manager to be very arrogant.

I’m very lucky that I’ve had some brilliant managers. My manager right now is excellent - she trusts me, she knows I’m capable and lets me do my job but I know she’s there to bounce things off of, ask her questions and get her support when I need her. She opens doors to opportunities for me and talks about me to senior leaders so they know what I’m capable of. I’m aware of how lucky I am.

i’ve had some terrible managers who have micro managed, pulled me apart and left me with no confidence so I appreciate how hard it is to find a good one and maintain a positive working relationship. My old boss used to make me cry regularly, not good.

I've never had a good one yet. Fortunately I've only had 4 in the last 30 years, 1 was awful, 3 fortunately just left me alone to do my job.

I have an absolutely loveliest manager I ever had- we are friends, she’s very kind, hardworking and always tries to help others and I see her more like mother figure then my boss.

Being a manager is a truly thankless task. It’s VERY hard to manage some people.

I have the best line manager! He always puts the team first, bigs us all up, always has our backs first and foremost, and always looks after our welfare. I never feel like I am bothering him, even though he is super busy. He's a rare one, but he makes a tough job 100x more bearable.

Mine is excellent and a huge support. I genuinely feel I wouldn’t still be in my role without his support over the years.
I also line manage managers and if any one of them wasn’t supportive, kind and compassionate I’d have serious concerns about their leadership competence. Thankfully they’re all great and their teams value them.
I’ve mostly had male managers and couldn’t criticise any of them. There was a totally incompetent female manager who made my life hell though so I know what dreadful looks like. I left a job I was good at because I couldn’t work for her a second longer.

My current manager is amazing and I do consider us as a team very lucky to have him because I see the managers of teams around us behaving appallingly.

in 37 years I’ve had a few , 3 , including current one , were fantastic, the old school ones I now realise were much better than we thought at the time , a few younger ones climbing the career ladder -pretty hopleless , and one mature female who was scarily unhinged and caused utter havoc - but we saw her off

I'm retired now, but have had several good managers over the years - more good than 'meh' and none were terrible.

I think what @ComtesseDeSpair said in the first reply is very true though. 'Being promoted' more often than not means 'being given a lot of different roles which are a completely different skillset from the one you were recognised as being good at'.

I've worked in various jobs and sectors over the course of 50 years. Most managers have just been meh (probably airing slightly more towards the "not particularly good" end of the spectrum). Others have been total bastards who shouldn't be in charge of a paper bag let alone other people, and two of them have been lovely but ineffectual.

I’ve had a couple of really excellent managers. People who have been really good at their jobs, who I’ve learned from and who have helped me grow and develop my skills. They have facilitated my work without micromanaging, have cleared the way when projects have got a bit stuck and who weren’t afraid to tackle difficulties in the team. They’ve recognised my work and have represented me well in different meetings and groups, generously crediting me with successes when it’s mattered.

Yes they’ve also been supportive of my needs in terms of work and times I’ve needed support for non-work stuff but the professional support and development has meant as much.

My current manager is retiring this week - she has been amazing and I’m genuinely gutted to see her go.

Currently have 2 line managers for 2 different aspects of my job. In my 50s. Both the best I have worked for. Complete trust and autonomy, if I ask ‘can I….?’ The answer is always yes. Left to get on with stuff. Supported when required. Very lucky.

I've had 1 good manager.
I'm mid 50s and had plenty of jobs, I normally leave shit ones though

I've had a great manager. I'm still in touch with him nearly 15 years after we parted ways.

Most of the rest have been fine, but I've had one who reduced me to tears on a daily basis driving into work. I wish I'd had the strength to quit, but st the time it was so overwhelming, I just couldn't see straight. Those are the managers who need to go - the ones who destroy peoples lives.

My manager is amazing, I’m very lucky and grateful to have her.
She is the only one I’ve ever had that has shown even an ounce of respect, compassion and human decency.

A few examples of what she has done for myself and my colleagues:

-Regularly lets us leave early for appointments, to collect children etc.
-Never schedules us to work on our birthdays.
-Always makes sure she tries to get us as much time off as possible (we work shift work, so not Mon-Fri).
-Never moans, complains, is ‘funny’ if we call in sick etc.
-If we tell her there is a specific day that we can’t work, she schedules our work days around that.
-Always asks after our kids/partners/family.
-Pays for our Christmas meal (she is also the CEO of the company).
-Gives us lifts to/from work if our cars are in for MOTs-we breakdown/ any other reason.

She is the main reason that despite the rubbish pay (just above NMW) I stay at my job because I love it.

I have a great manager. My username is based on an unknown medical condition my daughter had. She was in and out of hospital, we had scans, minor ops, days and days of me being out of the office for over two years. She was fab. I work for the nhs myself so I’d be on my laptop whenever possible, but she would be totally understanding when I’d have to unexpectedly dip off if the doctor came to her bedside. I’ve also had bullying issues at school which caused me to be off work with stress whilst I sorted the same child. My boss has been so incredibly flexible and I’m so lucky.

I try to be the same with my team. No one should feel scared about phoning in sick. No one should be anxious about telling me about a job interview. I fully support personal development and I try to help them with interview pointers wherever possible. I had a terrible boss when I had small children and it made my life very hard. I can remember suspecting my youngest had chicken pox but still putting them in nursery in hope this tiny little spot disappeared. She had previously had spots with viral illnesses so maybe it was that. I’d just arrived at work and got the call to come back to collect. My boss hit the roof. I started looking for a new job that day and it resonates with me to never be that person. I get that jobs need to be done, but life sometimes gets in the way and we all need to work together to find the right solution.

I think my manager is great. She is a lot younger than me, and she’s very competent, professional, kind, caring, and on the ball.

My manager is great. Very supportive, has my back, gives good feedback and issues R&R for job well done. I like to think (and get feedback to back this up) that i’m also a good manager.

See my username. 🙄

I think I've had a few fair managers in my time, I've had quite a lot of jobs and I can only think of two where the manager was specifically awful. OK, 3 counting this one.

I've had some excellent managers, most have been good, and only a few bad ones.

My last one (I've just retired) was fantastic: really supportive, had a proper handle on everything without interfering, and was brilliant at her own job as well. She fought to get our jobs regraded because changes in the law made the work more complex. She was so discreet that when we had a slacker on the team, none of us had an inkling that hey were on a performance management plan until after they'd left.

There was a bad deputy manager on the previous team I was on, but they weren't my line manager so rarely affected me. She was "managed out" in a restructuring: they reassigned her to the far side of the county from where she lived, she copped the hump about the length of the commute and got another job.

I've had two really good managers, both men. Both genuinely nice people who were concerned with the wellbeing of their staff, as well as being good motivators and always approachable.

I’ve only ever had one bad manager. He was overbearing and a terrible micromanager. The rest had been brilliant. I’ve mostly had female managers (which is extremely uncommon in my industry), and they’ve been nurturing, supportive, and trust me to get on with things!