What’s something your manager (past or present) told me or did that made you feel, ‘Wow, I have a great manager!’

One of my managers said that his goal is to enable me to do my job really well, because if I (i.e., his team does well), then he looks good himself. And he followed through, it wasn't just empty words. He removed blockers and he supported and facilitated. Never took credit fr...

Definitely not my current boss as he is terrible, but a former boss at my company held people accountable. The worst thing you can do for a high performer is tolerate low performance.

One thing that stuck with me was a manager who said: “If something goes wrong, it’s my responsibility. If something goes well, it’s the team’s credit.”. And they actually meant it. When things broke, they handled the pressure from above. When things succeeded, they made sure ...

I once asked my manager I needed a bit of confidence boost clubbed with this question - why do you think I can make this work? He said, "Because when you decide to succeed - you do." I still have that message starred

There were times when my manager told me that he didn’t like to be micromanaged and that he didn’t want to micromanage others. Although I’ve had pretty laid-back / nonchalant managers and supervisors in the past, when someone explicitly says this out loud, they usually m...

"Let me know what your ambitions are, and I'll help you achieve them"

When we got pregnant with our second, the baby tested high for complications in utero I remember sharing this with my boss and his response was "make sure you are at every appointment, work isn't going anywhere, we'll figure out how to make it work." It sounds simple, but w...

best one I had: she would end 1-1s with "what do you need from me this week that you haven't gotten yet?" simple question but it changed the whole dynamic. suddenly the meeting wasn't a status update, it was actually about removing whatever was slowing you down. it sounds sma...

There was some tedious, demotivating documentation work to be done. Next meeting - he did it. There was a process we had issues with - week or two later he presented us with a solution negotiated with other teams. No fanfare, no promises, no additional workload, just obstacl...

Manager left me alone most of the time. I consider that “great”.

I like to travel. I never took vacation without going offline. I was able to work where I was pleased. Thanks Mike. You are missed

"You're too smart to not go to college, take advantage of the company reimbursement."

As a manager for over 30 years at global IT company I have had a number of different directors. The best thing one of them said was " you are the manager of this part of the business. Know when to call me, know when not to call me." Basically I'm relying upon you. Ive got y...

Giving me credit for my work in meetings and to those above …”Xx put together this analysis” Most bosses just present your work and don’t acknowledge you.

Left me the fuck alone so I can do my job

I don’t care how you spend your time and how your work gets done, as long as it gets done at a high standard and on time. I trust you. You’re an adult and I’m not a baby sitter.

1 year ago, I had to present my project to the CEO I work in a 100k+ employee company so that was the first time I even met the guy Well, he was invested. a little too much ... He wouldn't budge on a subject and was asking question after question My manager, who saw me in d...

Noticed people's wants and needs without being told. Also helped people grow out of their roles, move on to bigger things and was delighted when it happened. Haven't worked for him for years but he calls every now and then to check up.

He only talks in terms of “we,” not “I.” Even when it’s something that I didn’t help with. I once pointed that out to him. He said, “but you took other things off my plate so I had the time to do this.” The only time he used “I” was something that was my fault and had blown ...

Dude just had a calm, even demeanor in the midst of chaos. Got shit done. His counterpart was universally regarded as a good guy, but was an awful manager, too inactive, too passive, and washed out. The good one honestly said one day “I respect you guys, I expect you to respec...

This is a weird one, but I’ve watched many people on my team leave the company over the years, and my boss has been very supportive of them each time. It’s honestly a relief to know that if I ever choose to leave I won’t receive a big guilt trip. He has been genuinely happy ...

Director stands out for me politically across the organization when required (either get sth to do my job or mistake coverage). Cares for me as a person, remembers small stuff. Challenges me constantly knowing I can do better

I'm a strong manager with close to 40 direct reports. I spent half of last year on leave for cancer treatment. Thought I was in the clear but ended the year on another leave for another surgery. A lot of people thought I wasn't coming back. Some people on my team almost quit. ...

She wouldn't let me quit. After getting laid off, I took a position in another area of the institution. It wasn't a good fit for me, and I was really depressed. When I told her I was leaving, she immediately said no and took me to HR. She helped me get short-term leave starti...

1. “This is a priority project and also a lot of work, what other things can I take off your plate so you can get this done first and not be overwhelmed.” And then proceeded to take those things off my plate. 2. “We have a flexible leave policy, you are a professional who al...

I worked for a company that offered only two weeks PTO total which included vacation and sick. My boss said to me on day 1 that if you work in her department, we don’t use PTO for sick time, just let her know what’s going on or if you have an appointment and save the PTO for v...

They were authentically themselves all the time. Straight talking too, let you know if there was something they couldn't tell you instead of being evasive, and if there was a problem, would just tell you, and then actually listen to your side - and ask questions if things didn...

I always swore the one thing I wouldn't do is finance. I hated the idea of it because looking back, I feared it. As an Executive Assistant, my boss pulled me into her office, sat me down, and said I was taking over the finances for the program because "I had potential" and wa...

I have been really fortunate in my career to have excellent managers. Especially the last 20 years or so. Had the occasional poor supervisor… but really good managers. What made them good? They were all really good about painting a picture that explained what the expectati...

Me, upset about the state of things. He says “You’re good. Take a half day and let them (my employees) figure it out.”

I came from a job where my manager (old guy) was always sending me on various errands that he was too lazy to do like going to the pharmacy. The best example was one time, he entered the office and just told me to go buy him something (didnt even grace me with a "Good morning"...

Just happened to me this week. There was some duties shuffling this week and one of my new duties would have had me in the office 3 days a week. I've been fully remote since covid. My direct supervisor fought against that with the higher ups. That duty went to somebody else ...

I was severely ill during Covid and hospitalised. I asked my boss how many sick days I can take and whether I can WFH for some time post discharge. He replied saying “take as much time as you need, and dont worry about your leaves, I’ll ensure you don’t have any loss of pay”. ...

I once had caused an aircraft part to be scrapped which cost between $5k - $6k. I went into my boss’s office and said “Boss, I may have just set the department record for most expensive screw up.” Boss: Well, how much is it gonna cost? I told him what happened and how much i...

Fired the lowest performer on the team.

1. Told me not to worry about PTO on time card when I had to put my dog down. 2. Proactively made sure not one incorrect negative comment was circulated about me. 3. Gave very clear instructions/coaching and grace for mistakes.

My current manager pulled a lot of strings to get me a deserved promotion (I was hired at too low of a title). Come the beginning of the promotion cycle, and HR had changed the career ladder for my department, removing the role I would have been promoted to. My boss still push...

My former manager who unfortunately passed away was awesome. One example of this is that we had a copier contract with Xerox (I work in IT) and when we needed a repair done the tech would always seem to arrive at around 12 noon, which was the time we would usually take lunch. ...

"I consider my employees to be my clients." I'm a nurse, turnover is high, and he knew that most of us could find a new position in a matter of days.

Best bosses I ever had were the type to do two things: 1. Be on the level and in the moment, meaning if they saw something that concerned them or that was against their wishes, they made a note of it then and there. They didn't let it fester, they didn't mentally bookmark it ...

He picked up the phone in front of me, called the hiring manager for a manager roll in my field.  Recommended me on the spot.  I had an interview a week later and got the job.  Then waited 8 weeks to leave bc HR fumbled the process.   Got asked every day for a month, when are ...

Company was being taken over by another one. I was on a work visa. He arranged for the company to sponsor my residency.

When she gave me her Crunchy Roll account.

Let me Flex time / leave early, most days, when my dad went into the hospital. Was about 6 months before he finally passed, so that is a pretty extended period...

Last year my husband was having some health issues which landed him in the ER nearly having a heart attack. My manager at the time told me to take off as much time as I needed, and that it was an order, not a suggestion (said in a nice way). :)

One of my first jobs after college had two work areas where we split our time: a production area and a warehouse. Most people disliked working in the warehouse because the work was tedious and physically demanding. One afternoon our manager came down to the warehouse, started ...

I got nominated for a "No News Is Good News" award. I asked my manager if he knew who did the nomination...he said "I did...the tracker is moving towards 100% and no one is complaining". OK, I guess you really are keeping tabs on my work without being intrusive and appreciatin...

A coworker at a new job for whatever reason decided she did not like me at all. Her behavior toward me was so hostile it was genuinely interfering with work and my ability to do my job. Since I was so new I hesitated to say anything in fear of looking like a drama queen. It go...

In my last week in one role before moving to another at the same company, I was hospitalized for preterm labor (14 weeks before my due date) and was told I would be hospitalized until I gave birth. My old boss insisted I log off and focus on my and my baby’s health while I was...

I was out last week sick, used 5 days of PTO, manager gave me 3 days back because I did about 30 minutes of work at home on my laptop

“Family comes first” when I was dealing with a long-running family crisis.

Told me “I’ve got your back” and actually backed it up with actions.

My manager went on maternity leave a week after I started. Came back, saw how I was operating above the level I was hired in for. She changed my working title first, then got me a promotion a little over a year after I started. She wanted it confirmed sooner, but I needed to p...

He was incredibly supportive, always held me fairly accountable for my mistakes but pushed me as far as he could on my merit. Lots of good things, but he also mostly had a lot of snacks that he'd share. I was always like 'ooh is this a good news biscuit or a bad news cookie?'

It’s sunny outside. Stop working.

- No push back on PTO - Got a micromanaging owner to back off and let him handle the team - Acted as a buffer / shield between us and sales and project managers - Allow work from home when sick or have appointments - let's you work independently but able to provide support whe...

My current SVP told me that he trusted my expertise. We can go a month without talking as he has to travel so much due to offices around the world, I just submit my weekly updates (with honesty about any problems, so he isn’t ever blind-sided and I tell him my solutions) Our ...

My manager told me to take care of my self since it's only a job. To not stress over things that I don't have control over. The worst thing that can happen is moving on to another company.

“I don’t have periods so I can’t relate to them. If you think you should take off work, I trust your judgement. Wouldn’t want to go through that myself.”

He told the CEO that he had only been here for 6 months and that I was still training him. So the whole bonus for the 2 of us should go to me as he hasn't earned anything yet.

I had asked my manager for a promotion (and raise) to senior level. Before he could push it through, he got word I was going to be transferred to another team. So, before I left, he was able to push through just the raise (faster, easier process) and told me “I’ve already let ...

On her very first day, she walked over to me and said “What can I do to help?” There was a project I was involved with that I hadn’t had time to pay attention to, so I asked her to take it off my plate. She did, and did all the management work for it herself. I got to work...

Right when stay at home orders were released, my boss scheduled a 1 on 1 with me. I was a single mother of a 1 year old, only mother on our team of 12, i had been at the company for 3 weeks. I thought for sure I was going to be let go. She said something along the lines of, ...

Made me feel supported. Like didn’t just say she would follow up on things whenever I brought literally anything to her it felt like she would go hard to try to find a solution to my concerns or address them at least as if they mattered and I’ll never forget that.

He taught me valuable lessons that I carried with me in my own career in management. When he first was hired my youngest son was very ill. I texted him one morning, letting him know I wouldn't be in. I'll never forget his words: "I have people on my team I trust and that a...

Leading the unionization charge

Back when I still had one I always felt that the manager 'was on my side'. I deep down known that she wasn't. But she always made us feel that way. She would genuinely try to help us, genuinely put in effort to support us. With mainly small things really. I think she had a gr...

My last boss when I started working for her said, "I've scheduled meetings for you over the next two weeks to meet with other leaders on teams we work with so you can learn what they do and build a relationship with them". Also, she said you're doing great, take your time to ...

In the private sector, when employers didn't want to give raises, he took a paycut to give his staff a small raise. He knew that meant more to his staff.

The lowest rungs on the ladder in our company were trying to unionize. The office managers in charge of all those employees started to quietly, gently, surreptitiously, find out all about it and report upwards. This not only goes against the improvement effort, but is basicall...

To the project team: “if they’re saying it, I’m saying it.”

My current manager used to be my supervisor. She had been forced on a rotation and that, in turn, extended a forced temporary role a previous supervisor put on me (was supposed to be 6 mo but extended almost a year past that since the rotated in supervisor had no relevant expe...

I’ll let you know when it happens

Still waiting. I work for a local govt so may never come. I have had some characters

I'll let you know

All of my managers for the last 15 years or so have been very hands off with me and show me tons of trust.

In over 30 yrs of working, I have yet to hear something like that

"We may not be able to meet as often as we should, but you can't argue with these results" I travel for work and teach scheduled classes, so only get about 30% of my time in the office on projects and such. Naturally the time constraints don't stop me being assigned way more...

Went into my just fire ravaged apartment to collect my computer. He sweet talked the firemen into meeting him go in to get it once the fire was out. I was out of town and I would have lost months of data.

Very early in my career a manager told me "Everyone makes mistakes. A good employee will catch their own mistakes, admit them, fix them, learn from them, and move on.".. or something like that. I say this to all of my direct reports now.

When I was in the Navy as a reactor mechanic standing reactor auxiliaries watch on a carrier, I had certain responsibilities, one of the biggest being adjusting the rate at which sea water goes through a heat exchanger to cool vital reactors equipment. One day my chief and I ...

I had a director who laid off my manager for fudging our timelines and not being honest about our project’s progress. He surprised me because he had every reason to just fire the guy, but my manager had been there a long time and had a family, so he laid him off with severance...

"There are two types of bosses, shit funnels and shit umbrellas. I will be your shit umbrella." And he was true to his word!

Nothing. In my three decades of employment I haven't had a single boss who gave a shit. Some were better at pretending, but that's all it ever was.

Nothing! ever!

Picked me up after a PIP… gave me work that was more aligned to my skills and ambition. Then cheered for me, pushed me, and kept reminding me of the goal and objectives. And then made sure I got rewarded in recognition and financially. She was amazing. I gave her a hug after...

One of mine always said his job was to make my job easier.

Sime actions or servant style leadership principles I apply because I learned them from good leaders are: Making myself available to remove blockers; actively asking "how may I help you be successful with (insert project, task, coaching their staff, etc.). When I promote som...

His response when I screwed up was to ask me for an explanation of the problem, then collaborate with me on figuring out a solution. I'm never afraid to admit I've screwed something up.

This might sound weird… But as a new college grad, I asked a lot of “stupid” questions “Stupid” meaning I didn’t try and use my brain to answer and problem solve myself first When I asked my manager these questions, he was condescending and irritated After one of my quest...

He said thank you after each shift and it was the sincerity with which he said it.

First day of my first corporate job my manager during onboarding said “You have one hour for lunch, make sure to take all of it.” In the environment I worked in, people seemed to take working lunches and our director encouraged working lunches (eating your lunch at your desk)....

Taught me something I now pass to my team: do not come to me with a problem unless you also have a solution.