Managers.

Ain't it the truth? My old manager left the company, and I got a new one. It's like night and day. I didn't realize how bad he was at managing people until new manager is in the picture.

He's not quite as good as the one in the screenshot, but he is far more focused on the job getting done than me being a slave to my company. In turn, all of our morale and productivity has increased. We have made massive strides because of him treating people reasonably.

This is a good post.

Once good managers set the high level plan, they work for their team, not the other way around.

If my team say they need another 2 weeks to do the job properly, it's my job to get that 2 weeks and shield them from the fallout. If they say they need more hardware, more training, more software licenses, heck even more *holiday*, then my job is to procure that so they can do their jobs.

If I say no to all of that and just concentrate my effort on cracking the whip, that's pointless. The good guys will be gone in a snap, I'd only ever keep those who couldn't find work elsewhere, and they'd be demotivated as anything. If I say yes to all of that and push for the highest pay rises I can on top, I've got a talented, motivated team who aren't going anywhere in a hurry.

I used to think managers did jack shit, it wasn't until I saw the difference between a good and a bad manager that I saw the difference