Over the years, I have had some really toxic managers who weren't only bad managers but also bad people. The kind you wish would get taken into an alleyway and beaten severely because of how they acted (yeah, they were that bad). At the same time, I've also had some damn good managers as well who I would take a pay cut to go work for.
Some of you will be looking for your next gig and a lot of awful managers who end up being awful people will advertise themselves as saviors. I'd say that sales, more so than other careers, is flooded with god awful leadership. The type that gaslights, leads by fear, and gets off on making the lives of others miserable. Yet, how do you weed through it all and get the dream boss? How can you even tell before taking the job offer?
Here is how, perhaps the number one metric and way to quantify a good manager from a shitty one.
Look at what happened to all of the people they managed at past companies or even the current one. I say you need at least 5 solid outcomes for better or worse. What I mean is that if they promoted two people, it could have easily been due to nepotism. If they had two people with short tenures, it could have been due to bad fit.
But if they have had a big number of people get promoted out of say an SDR role or even get a promotion as an AE, you very likely have yourself a good manager.
If they have had a number of people with short tenures or lack of any promotion, you have a bad one.
Want to know a sign of an awful manager? A number of people not only left them but went to other companies to build a good career.
Now you can research this with thorough LinkedIn research or talk to at least 5 people that used to work for the manager but be careful, they might hold back due to fear of consequences.
Members only
10 comments