Runs on PeoplePlaybooks / Trust · 3 min read
Working with each kind of manager
Your manager is only human, and often new to the job. Work out which kind you have, then help them be a better version of it.
The problem
“My manager micromanages, or disappears, and I don't know how to handle it”
In the model
In 30 seconds
- Every manager sits somewhere on two lines: the standards they hold and the care they show. Work out where yours sits.
- Each kind needs something different from you. Give it, and you'll get more of what you need back.
- Managing up isn't sucking up. It's making it easy for your manager to back you.
- Whatever kind you have, your career is still yours. They can guide and back you. They can't do it for you.
The situation
You and your manager aren't clicking. They're on your back about every detail, or you can't get ten minutes with them, or they're lovely but you've no idea where you stand.
What's really going on
Most managers were promoted for being good at something else, and are learning the job as they go. Their habits usually make sense from their side: pressure from above, fear of failing, or wanting to be liked. Once you can see what's driving them, you can work with it instead of against it.
Not sure which kind you have? Take the two-minute check on the home page.
Working for a Driver
High standards, low care. Results first, people when there's time.
- Bring a proposal, not a problem. "Here's what's wrong, here's what I'd do, here's what I need."
- Ask for the outcome, not the method. "What does done look like?" gives you room to work your way.
- Raise bad news early, with the facts. Drivers hate surprises more than problems.
- Protect your pace out loud. "I can do this by Friday if X moves. Which matters more?"
- For your career: make sure your results carry your name, and find someone else to talk to about your development.
Working for a Friend
Low standards, high care. Lovely to work for, and you never quite know where you stand.
- Ask outright for the honest version. "What would make my work better, not just fine?"
- Ask for stretch. Friends protect you from pressure, including the kind that would grow you.
- Raise team problems yourself, kindly. They may be avoiding the conversation.
- For your career: if the stretch doesn't come, find a mentor who will push you. Comfort won't grow your career.
Working for a Passenger
Low standards, low care. Hard to get hold of, slow to decide.
- Run your own 1:1s. Book them, send the agenda, write down what you agree.
- Make decisions easy: "Unless you say otherwise by Thursday, I'll go with option B."
- Find a second sponsor who knows your work: a senior colleague, a mentor, your manager's peer.
- Keep a record of your wins. Nobody else is.
- For your career: don't wait. Find mentors and a sponsor elsewhere. Your development is entirely yours for now.
Working for a Coach
High standards, high care. Demanding and on your side.
- Ask to be stretched. "What's the hardest thing I could take on next quarter?"
- Learn how they do it. Ask why they handled something the way they did.
- Pass it on. The best thanks for a good Coach is to coach someone else.
- For your career: grow fast while you have them, and ask them to sponsor your next step. Good Coaches move on.
How you'll know it's working
- Fewer surprises, in both directions.
- Faster decisions on the things that block you.
- Clearer direction: you could explain your priorities and what good looks like.
- Care check: you feel more like a partner than a subordinate.
What to say
To start a better working relationship with any kind of manager:
"I want to make your job easier, and do my best work. What do you need more of from me, and can I tell you what helps me?"
Try this week
Pick the one tip for your manager's type that you're not doing, and do it once.
Think about it
If you were your manager, with their boss and their pressures, what would you need from you?