| You mention choosing between "growth" and "kicking back" - that seems to me to be the key question you need to answer. Do you want to be stretched, or take some less stressful "passive work"? Neither answer is bad, and only you can choose. Once you know the answer to that, my "3 classes of managers" might help you pick a next step. Good: These managers actively support you. They know how to play whatever games your company has evolved, will support you through tough times, and create growth opportunities that advance your goals (and theirs). Useless but harmless: These managers are not actively "good", but they won't stop you serving yourself. You'll need to take matters into your own hands, but when you do, they'll support you. They normally know how to play the company games, and are sometimes "good" managers that have burned out or stretched themselves further than they have capacity for. Finding good mentors can help you leverage "Useless but harmless". Useless and harmful: These managers aren't helping you, but then actively hinder your attempts to help yourself. They'll block your attempts to achieve things - even if they're good for the team. When you go to them for support that only they can provide (e.g. performance reviews), they won't really listen to your feedback. Sounds like you're somewhere between "Harmless" and "Harmful", and you need to work out which one your situation is closer to. If you've got a "Useless but harmless", then you're fine. Work with them to generate the outcomes you want, trusting that - in general - they'll support you in "self-management". If they're not helping you and preventing you from helping yourself, then - despite being "nice" - they're probably harmful to your own goals (project and personal), and you _might_ want to consider other options. |