Ethan Evans on Managing Up

[@imu6085]

i am bit scared about the linkedin thing. it can force peoople to pretend waht they are not, in order to fit to the personality type that are preferred for a job. in short, this will make add one step of misery for non-preferred personalities in the corporate world. i hold a very specific set of *specialized* skills, but i was rejected from an interview, where they exaclty needed those skillset, by a person who i could very clearly feel was a very different personality. there r not many jobs in my region that can use my skills, and not many people who have those skills. eventually i landed up in a (lower paying) job that used a third of my skills, because the interviewer wanted someone who can do the job, and i was avaialble from next day. i hate this personality thing (i am not good at people skills, but i am good at solving technical problems in my field)

[@arvindsuthar]

Ethan, I’ve watched a few of your videos. My perception is that you are much likelier to believe that a subordinate is “not stepping up” than believing that a manager has - dare I say it - poor management skills. I get the sense that 90% of your directs are not in the top 10% and therefore not stepping up and not worth your managerial investment and attention because you may be “tired” or “grumpy” or “just not feel like” adapting to your direct.