I’ve had several managers in my career so far, and I’ve always thought that the ability to “manage up” is at least as important as the ability to “manage down”. One or two individuals were completely transparent in terms of their actions, behaviors, what they expect, and how they work, but others were as cryptic as a Rubik’s cube. Eventually (months actually) we hit our peak performance and figured out how to “get along” and work together in a way that “fits” both of us, but the question I ask myself today is, “How much more productive could we both have been if we knew how to work together on day one?”