How to Manage You
A guide you might want to share with your manager.
This is a guide you might want to share with your manager. It is based on your behavioural profile and it is designed to start a conversation, not end one. Not everything here will resonate perfectly and that is fine. The real value comes from exploring it together so your manager understands how to bring out the best in you. Think of it as a starting point for one of the most useful conversations you can have at work.
Everyone needs something slightly different from the people who lead them. The things listed here are not demands. They are honest observations about the conditions that help me do my best work. Some will be familiar. Some might surprise you. All of them are worth a conversation.
The best managers I have had did not treat everyone the same. They took the time to understand what each person needed and adjusted accordingly. That is what this is for.
What I need from my manager
- •I value a manager who engages with me as a person and not just as a resource — knowing that my ideas are genuinely considered and that my contribution is recognised keeps me engaged and motivated.
- •I am reasonably adaptable but I do appreciate knowing what to expect most of the time — a degree of consistency in how we work together helps me feel grounded without needing everything to be fixed or predictable.
- •I work well with high-level direction and I do not need a great deal of detail or process from my manager — I am comfortable filling in the gaps myself and I find overly structured or process-heavy management more constraining than helpful.
Understanding what energises me and what drains me helps you bring out the best in me rather than inadvertently working against my grain. These are not trivial preferences. They are the conditions that genuinely affect my output, my engagement, and how I feel about the work.
I will always give my best effort. But in the right conditions, that effort goes much further.
What tends to energise me
- •I thrive on discovery. I may feel most energised when exploring ideas, experimenting with new approaches, and keeping momentum moving forward.
- •I am likely most motivated when I have choice and ownership. I may do my best work when I can decide how to approach the goal without being tightly managed.
What tends to drain me
- •Too much urgency or competition may reduce motivation.
- •Long research phases or heavily theoretical work may feel slow and draining.
Feedback is one of the most valuable things a manager can offer. When it lands well it helps me grow. When it lands badly it can close me down even when the intention was good. The bullets below describe how feedback tends to land best for me. This is not about avoiding honesty. It is about giving honesty to me in a way I can genuinely receive and act on.
I want honest feedback. What helps is knowing how to give it to me in a way I can genuinely receive.
How to give me feedback
- •I respond better to feedback that is framed with care rather than delivered bluntly — I can hear honest messages but the way they are framed matters a lot to whether I can act on them.
- •Acknowledging what is going well before moving into what could be better helps me stay open to the developmental parts of the conversation — I engage more fully when I feel the feedback is balanced.
- •I prefer feedback conversations that feel planned rather than spontaneous — a quick heads up that you want to share something gives me enough time to settle into the conversation rather than feeling caught off guard.
- •I am comfortable receiving feedback at a fairly high level and I do not necessarily need specific examples or data to support every point — general observations are usually enough for me to understand what you mean.
Everyone has moments when things feel difficult. When that happens to me, there are certain things that genuinely help and certain things that make it harder to find my way back. This is not about making allowances. It is about knowing how to support me in the moments when I need it most.
I may not always tell you when I am struggling. Knowing what to look for and what helps means you do not have to wait for me to ask.
Signs I may be finding things hard
Under pressure my energy and enthusiasm can tip into something that is harder to contain. I may find myself overcommitting, jumping between priorities, and finding it genuinely difficult to land on one thing. It is worth being mindful of the gap between what me take on and what is actually possible. The people around me often experience my pressure response as energy rather than struggle, which can mean they do not realise I need support until I am already stretched.
What tends to help
- •High-energy connection with people who genuinely match your enthusiasm and pace
- •Real freedom to express ideas, move quickly between things, and explore what is possible
- •Variety, novelty, and constant stimulation to stay engaged and avoid going flat
How I communicate and how I prefer to be communicated with are not always the same thing. The bullets below give you a quick picture of what tends to work best in our day-to-day interactions. Small adjustments can make a bigger difference than you might expect.
The most effective working relationships I have had involved someone who understood not just what I was saying but how I tend to say it and how I prefer to receive things.
My communication preferences
- •I am comfortable with a straightforward communication style but I work better at a considered pace — I tend to produce my best thinking when I have had a moment to reflect rather than being pushed for an immediate response.
- •I thrive in communication that is warm, enthusiastic, and genuinely two-way. I find purely transactional or flat communication demotivating and I do my best work when the relationship behind the communication feels real and energised.
- •Some consistency in how and when we communicate helps me feel organised and on top of things — I do not need a rigid structure but a loose rhythm of touchpoints helps me plan and prioritise effectively.
- •I am comfortable with high-level communication and I do not need a lot of detail or precision to feel informed — I am happy to fill in the gaps myself and I find overly detailed communication more distracting than helpful.