How to manage a "Bad" Manager

Question

I (also my team) am having some tough time with my manager. I am listing some of the things to certain extent here in terms of what I see as a problem. I have provided some of the feedbacks directly to him, though he/she received it well, I don't see the improvements happening with him/her. Even after the people on the team having couple of conversations with skip level regarding this, we still don’t see an improvement. Looking for some advice on what I can try differently here.  Lack of transparency and visibility:** I see a lack of transparency from him/her regarding what he/she is learning from leadership about company priorities. This leaves me unclear on broader opportunities our team could focus on. Team Manager vs Leadership:** Team meetings feel more like status updates rather than opportunities for her/him to share and set the team vision, mission, or direction, which could help boost morale and engagement. The focus is often on operational details like Jira updates, OKR updates, timelines etc instead of inspiring leadership. Contradictions in Expectations:** She/he expects us to push product teams for alignment, even when their decisions depend on senior leadership and out of our control or pay level where things becomes hard to influence. However, when I asked about our team’s 2024 focus, he deferred, citing the same dependency on leadership alignment. This feels inconsistent. Difficult to Disagree:** While she/he says she/he’s open to disagreement, in practice, she/he often asks follow-ups or challenges until her/his view prevails, making it hard to have meaningful discussions. Learning:** I feel I’m not learning unique leadership skills from him/her compared to what I gain from other collaborators within the company or my previous job. Manager as Stakeholder vs Advocate:** Double work if we involve him/her into conversation around what is going on in the project  I’ve started handling stakeholder communication independently to avoid doubling work when aligning with her/him afterward.

Rahul Pandey · Accepted Answer

In most cases, it’s not worth trying to "fix" a bad manager: it rarely happens and your feedback could backfire and put your own job at risk.

Even after the people on the team having couple of conversations with skip level regarding this, we still don’t see an improvement.

This is a bad sign if you've already had a conversation with the skip and still see no change. It means that (1) your skip doesn't see this as a problem OR (2) your manager has chosen not to implement the feedback. Neither of these is good.

I'd generally advise you to share "upward feedback" during performance reviews when people are already expecting to hear news about their behaviors.

Have you tried implementing the tactics that Ethan shares in Giving Upward Feedback? In particular:

Choose your battles
Ask permission
Bring examples

How to manage a "Bad" Manager

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