I was bored at work and ranked the personalities all of the managers I’ve had over my career starting from high school. A fascinating analysis in many ways … the trajectory looks good! What would yours look like? [OC]

Posted by mystadobalina

26 comments

  3. Do you know these people have bipolar, or are you just using this term for a diagnosable condition to describe the mercurial nature of two-faced middle management?

    Edit: (asking for context of the use of the term, not to “get offended”, which OP has politely provided)

  5. Looks like as your career has progressed you’ve earned more trust and raised expectations!

  7. How is Brian like? Is he just a bro?

    What about someone like Maureen?

  9. I would have loved a Brian, Erin or James early in my career (around the same age as you).
    Even a Karim wouldn’t have bothered me.

    Now, I want Geoffs and Gregs, but I’d settle for a Mike or James and still push myself.
    I’ve had a few too many Mitch, Tracy and Donna types over the years and unpredictability might be the single worst trait in leadership.

  11. Very interesting chart. I’ve often thought about doing the same for my work career as well. Honestly, most managers I’ve had are always friendly and nice 1 on 1, but are either not helpful or snakes behind your back. Very rare to get someone personable and willing to support you. 

  12. Geoff has the stupidest name but the best personality

  13. So I got hung up on your axis labels. On an x-y chart, normally the x-axis title is on the bottom, and the y-axis is on the right. So I read this as kindness going from left to right, and expectation from bottom to top, and was quite confused.

    Your notation (you labeled the arrows) is intuitive, maybe, to folks that don’t look at scatter plots all day, but this was very confusing to me!

    Btw the manager with whom I share the same name is in about the spot where I think I am (doesn’t start with G).

  15. Interesting project. I recommend you limit your quandrant categories to single factors. By using “and” within your label of each quadrant it makes it appear these characteristics are universally linked. Compound labels create a perception that multiple charts are really needed to understand the trends.

    Also, unless you are graphing mental health data, avoid using terms like “bipolar.” Better alternatives may include erratic, inconsistent, or unpredictable. As it is, the chart creates a negative connotation of all managers with this condition, when many people manage symptoms and go unnoticed. The incorrect use of technical or medical terms in a data chart can bias your audience to it’s reliability or accuracy.

  16. Personable & “disconnected”? I must not understand the personality connotation of disconnected

  19. Karim, and Donna those two sucked. Frank & Roger were ass holes but knew how to get shit done. they probably do well in high stress dynamic situations. I think Renzo would be a good fit for me. James and Geoff are both probably full of shit and stab you behind your back. Never trust nice people, they’re just like the rest of us but save their savagery to ensure maximum damage and betrayal.

  21. The kidness and expectation axis mess with my head in combination with the arrow

  23. I find it interesting that some manages had a very wide swing in Expectation, while Kindness never wavered among anyone.

  25. I’d add that a lot of this is likely driven by perception, maybe even more so than the people you are ranking. The granted wisdom is not really a factor that can be ignored or accounted for.

    Someone out of highschool versus someone who has been working for 20 years are people who will have vastly different perspectives on the same things; even if you are the same person. This also looks like a chart that could resemble declining cynicism or increasing optimism.

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