Ask HN: Who was your favorite manager and why?

8 points by smathieu 11 years ago | 8 comments

I'd like to hear the story of who was your favorite manager and why. What was the unique thing they did that made you more productive and/or happy?

avemuri 11 years ago |

My first job, luckily. The office was a pretty aggressive and political place, lots of people screwing each other over. He had a way of getting things done while still being one of the nicest people I've met. More importantly, he was liberal in sharing his thoughts.

It also showed me you don't have to be an asshole to get ahead. He had already moved up very fast, and 10 years later is now the head of a 5000 person organization. "What would Navneet do?" is still one of my internal checks when I'm struggling with something. I'm pretty convinced management is an apprenticeship business and I had a great mentor early in my career. I had some lousy management later, not sure how well I would have coped without the earlier exposure. I've developed my own style and incorporated stuff from other people, books, and blogs. I'm probably fairly different in style and personality to him today, but I think that one year laid the foundation of me being at least competent.

partisan 11 years ago |

At my first job after college, I was invited out for drinks with a group of co-workers. Being as shy as I was, I told them I had a big day ahead of me the next day and that I couldn't stay out late. Well, my manager caught wind of this and called me into her office to explain myself at which point she gave me the next two days off to ensure that I would have no excuse for not going. I went and had a great time.

I had a healthy fear of her but she was also a friend to me and gave me relationship and career advice at every possible opportunity.

pjungwir 11 years ago |

In the first couple weeks of my first job I was helping a client build a custom integration with our product. I thought through the general way I wanted to do it, although I could imagine a couple alternatives. I started presenting my ideas to my boss, and before I got to the end he told me to go for it. I asked if he wanted to hear about the other options, and he said, "No, I trust you." That was a pretty amazing way to get started.

chrisbennet 11 years ago |

I had a manager once who I don't recall ever actually telling me I needed to do something.

Instead, he would let us know what he/we were trying to accomplish (Can we do X?) and we'd figure out a way to do it. I remember telling him many times: "Learn to live with disappointment Adam." - but then I'd try to make it happen anyway.

codeonfire 11 years ago |

Have you ever been in a situation where someone fixed every problem you have or might have in the future because he or she understood your job and all the problems you face better than you do. Yeah, that has never happened in 20 years of working.

Flora310 11 years ago |

I had a manage who tell me how to improve my ability of work with patience and also encourage me in learning English frequently.More important thing is that he can tell us how to do and give constructive feedback.

timetraveller 11 years ago |

Who was yours?

smathieu 11 years ago | |

When I was an intern at a large fortune 500 company, in the first week, my manager had me schedule a 30 minute meeting with the 20 or so people I'd have to interact with during my internship. This was pretty awkward at first to walk up to people and ask 'can I interview you'?

Still, the benefits of this were huge. After the first week, I was aware of who everyone was, what their job was, what they studied and what they liked to do. It was a nice icebreaker that cut my onboarding time by a significant amount.