Get What You Need from Your Hands-Off Boss - HBR

Having a passive boss can be a frustrating experience. “They don’t know the details, they don’t want to know the details, and they don’t follow up. You might wonder what they do all day long,” says Jean-Francois Manzoni, a management professor at INSEAD and author of The Set-Up to Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail. Many bosses don’t give enough direction, provide feedback on your work, or fight for the resources you need. “Of course, people like to feel trusted and depended on, but there are drawbacks: you may not get the recognition or appreciation you need,” says Annie McKee, cofounder of Teleos Leadership Institute and author of several books on leadership, including Primal Leadership. Your boss may not be a bad person or even an incompetent manager. “Too many managers are just too busy to manage well,” she says. Whatever the reason for your boss’s hands-off approach, you don’t have to accept it. Here’s some advice on how to get what you need from an overly passive manager.

via Get What You Need from Your Hands-Off Boss - HBR.