I’ve had 2 great managers, 2 average to bad ones, and the rest falls in the average to ok category. I’m a manager myself and I think I fall on the good side of

I’ve had 2 great managers, 2 average to bad ones, and the rest falls in the average to ok category. I’m a manager myself and I think I fall on the good side of the fence (actually I’m pretty sure of it but it’s always difficult to judge oneself so I’ll err on the side of caution). Beyond good and bad, I believe a lot of the fit or lack thereof is linked to behavior (which can be worked on), motivation (which is pretty hard to change so you better make sure it’s aligned with the job’s objectives) and communication (which you can never work on too much). As a team member, understanding your boss’s objectives, pain points, and default behavior / failure mode is a good place to start. A great manager will spell those out to you when you join the team so you don’t have to guess at them; if not, I absolutely encourage you to ask these questions as early as you can (during the hiring process if you can). Discovering MBTI has been tremendously helpful in figuring out manager-managed relationships. In particular, there are 4 sub-categories (NT, NF, SP, SJ) with markedly different behaviors, motivations, and managerial expectations. Reading about these and making connections to past managers (and the people in my team at the time) was a lightbulb moment for me. Often you can take a good guess at your future manager’s category in the course of an interview, especially if you know what questions to ask. Based on this info + your type and preferred way of working + the role you’re applying for, it’s possible to detect a potential misfit and steer clear. Of course, all the items above assume a modestly competent manager to work with; they don’t do much good when you run into clinical cluelessness, unabashed douchebaggery or the aftermath of the Peter principle (although they do help you rationalize the situation).