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This sounds pretty good, all these are qualities anyone would want in their manager if they had a job doing 'the critical path of execution'. There's few thing
by photochemsyn 5y ago
This sounds pretty good, all these are qualities anyone would want in their manager if they had a job doing 'the critical path of execution'. There's few things more frustrating than continually having to halt in the middle of one task to jump over to another task because someone's pants are on fire. Sure it happens, but it should be the exception not the norm.
However, there's another side to the manager's job that doesn't seem to be addressed - interfacing upwards with whatever layers link to owners, founders, the board, shareholders, etc. How does that exactly work out in practice? Let's say leadership makes what you think are really stupid decisions with disastrous longterm consequences (ex: Boeing 737 MAX design process, Google signing up with China to build Dragonfly, etc.). What do you do? Pour gasoline on yourself and set yourself on fire in protest, or roll your eyes in despair and proceed to assign your team to the task?
- 0xbadcafebee 5y ago- Choose and limit your battles - Provide data to make an argument - Put your concerns in writing - Challenge your manager to ask their bosses tough questions - Form coalitions with other managers to try to solve problems together - Ask for a skip level (IMHO once a quarter, not just to address business problems but to maintain good relationships) - If your employees are still at risk and upper management does nothing, threaten to quit
- joshbetz 5y agoBe honest with the people who report to you about your feelings. You don't have to go out of your way to stir up trouble, but if people come to you with concerns that you share, it can be very helpful to know that you're not alone and your manager is on your side.