5 signs you’re working for a performative manager (and how to outsmart them)
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In the late 2010s, at the height of the direct-to-consumer boom, Framebridge founder Susan Tynan was green with envy. Many other venture-backed startups from the era—like Casper, Away, and Glossier—were growing much faster than her custom framing business.
While these other buzzy brands focused on acquiring customers and growing revenue, Tynan was using her $81 million in venture funding to tackle more arduous operational issues, like building factories and hiring hundreds of craftspeople to make frames by hand.
Eleven years into the business, Tynan’s slow, steady approach to growth is paying off. Framebridge now has 750 employees, 500 of whom work at the company’s four factories in Kentucky, Virginia, and Nevada. Meanwhile, its brick-and-mortar footprint is growing rapidly, with 12 new stores opening last year (it now operates 43 physical stores) and more planned.
Tynan says that by investing in Framebridge’s infrastructure early on, she built a moat around the business that has allowed it to ward off competitors. And now the company is in a position to scale rapidly, actively looking to expand its network of brick-and-mortar locations, possibly into the hundreds.
Meanwhile, many DTC startups that Tynan once envied are fending off challengers that have created similar products, from mattresses-in-a-box to design-forward luggage. “Framebridge was a hard business to build, but that’s why it’s impossible to replicate,” says Tynan. “We’re now reaping the benefits.”
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5 signs you’re working for a performative manager (and how to outsmart them)
Every workplace seems to have one. A manager who goes silent for days, then suddenly reappears in the team chat the moment senior leadership checks in. They’ll swoop in to take credit for the work they hadn’t touched, and say, “Oh yes, we’ve been addressing that.”
This type of boss shows up when there’s an audience, then vanishes as soon as the higher-ups leave. I’ve started calling them the performative manager, because that’s exactly what they are.
To performative managers, actually leading isn’t really the point. All they care about is looking like they’re leading. Performative managers care more about optics than outcomes, and their favorite project is themselves.
It sounds like something out of a bad office comedy, but it’s a reality that’s become easier to spot as more work happens online. A Resume Genius Report found that 62% of Gen Z employees face high performance expectations but little support, and more than half rarely get feedback from their managers.
That’s not a small problem. Gallup research shows that managers shape roughly 70% of how engaged a team feels, which means one bad boss can drag an entire department down.
Think your boss might be a performative manager? Here are five signs to watch for.
The saga of toxic and performative managers is becoming so common these days. Something I have found very helpful to navigate this situation is to start having senior sponsors so that we are not always at the mercy of this one person.
It's tough when leadership feels disconnected from the team's actual work. Focusing on building strong relationships and demonstrating consistent contributions, even when it's not the flashiest, can create a genuine impact that speaks for itself. Cultivating your own visible wins through clear communication of your achievements can also be empowering.