Just Because They’re Your Manager Doesn’t Mean They’re Smart, Qualified, or Someone You Should Admire

Hierarchy has a branding problem.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that job titles equal competence, and that anyone with “Manager” in their title must be smarter, more capable, or more deserving of respect.

That assumption protects the wrong people.

Promotion ≠ capability

People become managers for many reasons:

• Time served, not talent

• Being good at tasks, not people

• Office politics

• Being visible to the right people

Too often, the skill that gets rewarded isn’t leadership — it’s proximity to power.

When poor behaviour gets a pass

Some managers don’t just lack skill — they lack professionalism.

You’ve seen it:

• Gossiping about their own team

• Sharing “confidential” information selectively

• Mocking staff under the guise of humour

• Undermining people to look competent

This isn’t leadership.

It’s insecurity with a title.

And when that behaviour is ignored or rewarded, it sends a clear message about what the organisation actually values.

Brown-nosing up, failing down

One of the clearest red flags in management is this pattern:

• Polished, agreeable, and deferential upwards

• Dismissive, critical, or absent downwards

These managers protect their image with senior leaders while letting their teams absorb the impact — missed support, poor advocacy, and blame when things go wrong.

They don’t lead.

They deflect.

The cost to the team

Gossiping and self-serving managers create:

• Psychological unsafety

• Erosion of trust

• Silencing of concerns

• High turnover disguised as “culture fit issues”

Teams don’t fail in these environments.

They disengage.

When the problem isn’t you

If you’re second-guessing yourself, feeling exposed, or constantly on edge, it may not be resilience you’re lacking.

It may be leadership.

Poor managers often weaponise:

• Vague feedback

• Moving goalposts

• “Transparency” that’s actually surveillance

• Loyalty tests framed as team spirit

That’s not development.

That’s dysfunction.

The nudge

You don’t owe admiration to someone because they outrank you.

You are allowed to:

• Notice patterns of poor behaviour

• Expect discretion and professionalism

• Question managers who perform upwards and disappear downwards

• Stop internalising leadership failures as personal shortcomings

Respect is a baseline.

Trust and admiration are earned.

A manager title proves one thing only: someone was promoted.

Leadership is something else entirely.