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"Great" is probably not a good term to apply to a manager because it panders to an unhelpful "David Brent" mentality. As this thread ages, you will probably notice a lot of managers detailing the ways in which they are "great" (typically couched in terms of "aspiring to be", since nobody wants to be seen as a pompous egomaniac).

The truth is that managers are measured by a lot of different metrics, and what makes a really good manager for you as an employee is not necessarily what makes a good manager for the organisation as a whole, or even that managers manager.

The idea that people don't leave jobs, but leave managers is wrong, and clearly overstates the influence of a manager over more significant things like pay, conditions, location and status.

Managers should be capable of treating their underlings as human beings, and should be able to keep their ducks in a row. If you have one of those then count yourself lucky- you have a GOOD manager, and GOOD is good enough.




> The idea that people don't leave jobs, but leave managers is wrong, and clearly overstates the influence of a manager over more significant things like pay, conditions, location and status.

I've seen too many cases where people have left places because of a shit manager to discount this. My wife had a team at Oracle that was highly effective under one manager, and experienced 200% turnover under the next. People will absolutely flee a shitty, scummy, abusive manager, especially when times are good like they are now.


I translated "manager" into "leader" for purposes of answering the question, trying to fall back on many years of observing other leaders.

I have no desire to be a manager, and "to manage" is a very fuzzy concept covering everything from prison guard to space shuttle commander.

There are clear leadership qualities that cut across all fields, and are true no matter what level you are in the organizational tree.




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