My relationship with management has, over the years, been an unusual one. We tend to settle on an arrangement whereby I don't harass them over their failings, and they leave me to deliver whatever it is that appears to be most important.
However, where I have respected my bosses (and that doesn't mean agree with them on everything), I tend to perform better. I enjoy an intellectual challenge. and a manager who thinks before they act tends to convince me that there is some strategic awareness and an understanding of the broader picture. I may not always agree with their decision, but if it is well argued, they can count on me to back them up.
Since I arrived in my current post, I haven't necessarily seen eye to eye with my manager. It isn't that he's a bad person, or that he doesn't try. It's just that I don't sense that the bigger picture is something that he wants to consider. There is little sense of a strategic view, although I am unconvinced that he is encouraged to take one, and I've felt rather isolated in terms of where I fit in.
However, we've had a bit of a chat lately, and I took the opportunity to bare my soul in terms of where and what I think the issues are. Given that the general workstate is pretty bad - nine weeks of post on hand and little immediate prospect of improvement - it's probably best that I leave him to worry about it. Instead, I'll focus on our weak points and try to secure some improvements for our customers, keeping him informed as to what I'm doing and why. If he's got a problem, he can say so, and if he needs me to do something, he can ask.
And perhaps everyone might be a winner, after all...
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