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Discussion on: Describe the best manager you've ever had

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Shannon Crabill

I've had several managers in my career and most of them have been good. But experience with the manager in my current role (let's call her Sara) sticks out to me.

I'll say that my manager before I came to this job, was not great and is a big part of why I left a full-time role with benefits for a contract one with no benefits. I was a few months into my new job, everything was fine, very different from my previous one (in a good way) and it happens, I made a mistake on launching an email campaign.

Oh no.

Mistakes happen. We're human, but I think we can all agree that making a mistake in a new role is especially nerve-wracking. In my old job, where I had been for 5+ years, a tiny mistake, one much smaller than the one I had just made, my manager made me feel horrible and it kept being brought up as opposed to any of my positive accomplishments. So, I was very concerned about what would happen here.

The experience was totally different.

I can't remember if I realized my own mistake and brought attention to it, or if the client did, but eventually, me and my manager had a chat. Sara wanted to understand what had happened and acknowledged that while yes, I did make a mistake, there was room for interpretation on the client-side. In summary, the talk amounted to yes, it was a mistake, it happens but everything is ok. I wasn't belittled or made to feel like I was unskilled or flawed, it wasn't a blame game. It was a conversation where I left feeling ok and not devastation that one error would continue to follow me around and get brought up every 1:1, etc.

And that is part of what makes a good manager, in my opinion.