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Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by FranzFerdiNaN on Friday July 26, 2019 @03:29AM (#20533012)
Your number one role is to be a shit umbrella, protecting your team from all the shit that gets flung at them from all sides.

It’s you who will have to say no to the higher ups when they demand that you drop everything and start working on quantum computers because their brother heard about it on a birthday.

It’s you who will have to argue with other managers and team leads when they want to push work on your team.

It’s you who will have to step up when team members get into bad arguments with each other.

You will have to accept that your job will leave less and less time for the technical side you’ve done before.

You are no longer the same rank as your team members, never forget that. Because they won’t, and if you get into technical arguments with them they might follow your idea because you’re the boss, not because you are right.

If you can’t or won’t want deal with these kinds of things, please don’t take the job. Management is a real skill.

Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by artsyca on Friday July 26, 2019 @04:40AM (#20533303)
Not to mention exemplifying the 'company values' for whatever they're worth
Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by Delmania on Friday July 26, 2019 @07:52AM (#20534042)
Yes, the manager’s sheen. No matter how you’re feeling you should always strive to exude and instill positive energy into any interaction you have with the team.
Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by artsyca on Friday July 26, 2019 @11:40PM (#20540245)
Actually, most of my managers have dragged their asses behind low hanging blue jeans and shown overt contempt for the brand and any form of idealism; at one company I learned 'initiative is punishable' -- they seem to squirrel themselves into a cozy position with a director and the 'sheen' you describe is more of a greasy film to which on accountability can ever stick
Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by pts_ on Friday July 26, 2019 @05:32AM (#20533499)
You forgot kissing higher up's asses. Really hard.
Re:Ask HN: How to Be a Decent Manager? by loa_in_ on Friday July 26, 2019 @08:37AM (#20534271)
Hopefully Managers also get to have good Management.