> If you take nothing else away from this post, take this: a sufficiently skilled manager can take the same body of work and make it work for you OR against you

> If you take nothing else away from this post, take this: a sufficiently skilled manager can take the same body of work and make it work for you OR against you. This is definitely true, and I want to add to it, just a little. When I was new to the world, I believed the world was unfair and I had no control over if I get promoted or not. Here is what you do to overcome having a bad boss: YOU FIND OTHER BOSSES. You do work for you immediately boss. But you also do stuff for his/her peers (tip: you couch it as teamwork, so your boss likes you for it). You make sure your boss's boss knows about the work you do, and you do stuff for him/her. You be your own advocate. You find the influencesers and makesure they know about you and your work. Then, when calibrations come along, and each of the bosses are pitching how well everyone has done, you have all of these people who ACTUALLY KNOW what you did. Just like a "good boss can spin your work", so too can ALL OF THESE BOSSES spin YOUR WORK as good. Also, seek out good bosses.