Absent
Type. Most friction is direction. Usually untrained, rarely indifferent.
This test scores behaviours you have experienced at work. It does not diagnose anyone. Narcissistic personality disorder is a clinical diagnosis that only a qualified mental health professional can make, and this page never uses that label for a result. Nothing here is HR, legal or medical advice. If your manager's behaviour leaves you frightened or unwell, talk to a therapist, your employee assistance programme or, in the US, call or text 988.
Your highest friction is Direction. You find out about decisions after they are made, priorities move without a reason, and you are not sure what your work will be judged on this quarter. This test calls that pattern Absent. It describes a situation you are in, not the person you report to.
Read your score before anything else. Under 25, this is your manager's mild lean and probably not your problem. Between 25 and 60, it is friction worth one conversation. Over 60, it is the pattern you are working inside, and it will shape your year whether you name it or not.
Here is what most people get wrong about an absent boss. They read it as indifference. Usually it is not. Most managers who score this way were never taught to run a one on one, to explain a change of priority, or to say out loud what good looks like. They are busy, untrained, and they assume you know. In a 2023 survey for the Chartered Management Institute, 82 percent of people who entered management said they had no proper management training (CMI and YouGov). Absence is what that looks like from your chair.
That changes what works. Complaining about an absent manager gets you nothing, because there is nobody on the other end to receive it. Asking for direction, in writing, in a form that takes two minutes to answer, usually does.
What to do this week. Send one message before your next one on one: these are the three things I think matter most this quarter, is that right, and what would you add? A manager who answers is not absent, just unstructured. A manager who does not answer, twice, has given you your data point.
If your score is over 60 and the message goes nowhere, use the three columns in the next section. Only one of them needs a plan.
What to do with this result
If you do not manage people
Your Monday one on one. Bring a one line agenda and ask for one thing: can we agree what good looks like for my top priority this month, and when you want an update? Write the answer down and send it back the same day.
The three columns. Leave, if friction is over 60, the message went unanswered twice, and nothing in the next three months will change who you report to. Stay and act, if a written agreement on priorities would fix most of it. Stay and wait, if a reorganisation, a new manager or your own move is already scheduled. Write down which column you are in, with a date to check it.
The leader you wish you had is a set of habits, not a personality. The free leadership style quiz shows which ones you would lead with.
If you manage people
Your reports could answer these twelve statements about you, and Direction is where most managers score worst without knowing it. In the same CMI survey only 27 percent of workers rated their manager as highly effective. The fix for Absent is structural, not personal: a weekly one on one with a written agenda, and a two line note every time a priority changes, saying what changed and why.
The management style quiz shows which habit you lean on, and the 360 lite asks three to five of your people directly. The 5 Minute Leader is the daily version of the same habits, five minutes a day.
Next step
If this is a legal matter
Harassment and discrimination at work are legal questions, and a quiz cannot answer them. In the US, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains what the law covers and how to file a charge at eeoc.gov. In the UK, ACAS gives free, impartial advice at acas.org.uk. An employment lawyer can tell you what applies to you. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
The other results
- ControllingMost friction is room. The how of your work is not yours.
- Self ServingMost friction is credit. Your name does not travel with your work.
- VolatileMost friction is steadiness. You manage a mood, not the work.
About this result
This is one of 4 results from the Boss Pattern Test: what kind of boss do you have, a free tool that shows the score without an email. Aggregate figures are at the statistics page once 30 completions have been reached. More free tools are at the tools shelf.