Wrong Boss
Reading. The work fits. The relationship with your manager does not.
This quiz sorts what is driving the question. It does not tell you to leave or to stay, and it does not know your contract, your finances or your health. The runway figures in the worksheet are arithmetic, not financial advice; check them with someone qualified. If you are being harassed or discriminated against, this quiz does not apply; talk to HR, an employment lawyer or, in the UK, ACAS.
Your lowest score is The Boss. The work may still fit and the deal may be fair, but the relationship with the person you report to is not working: problems are hard to raise, your one on ones do not help, and you would trade some interesting work to report to someone else. This quiz calls that reading Wrong Boss. It describes a relationship, not a person.
This is the reading where leaving is most tempting and most often unnecessary. A manager is the part of a job most likely to change without you moving. Managers are promoted, reorganised and replaced, and your company may already have one you would rather work for.
Before you decide, separate two things. A manager who is untrained is different from a manager who is unwilling. 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). An untrained manager can respond to a clear request. An unwilling one will not, and two clear requests will tell you which you have.
A clear line. If the relationship includes harassment, discrimination or threats, this is not a question of fit. Use the legal resources at the foot of this page.
The rules for deciding. Stay employed while you search. Set a six month check, and look inside the company before you look outside it. Ask which choice you would regret less in ten years. And resign to a plan, not to a person.
What to do this week. Make one clear request of your manager, in writing, about the thing that would help most: a standing one on one, a faster answer, a clear priority. The boss pattern test names which part of the relationship is not working.
What to do with this result
If you do not manage people
Your next one on one. Ask for one thing, specifically: could we keep a standing thirty minutes every week, and could I bring you my top priority each time so we agree on it? Send a two line note afterwards with what you agreed. Do it twice before you judge the answer.
The three columns. Leave, if two clear requests changed nothing and there is no other team you would move to. Stay and act, if the requests are working, or an internal move is open. Stay and wait, if a reorganisation or a change of manager 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. The free leadership style quiz shows which ones you would lead with.
If you manage people
If you manage people, your reports could answer these twelve statements about you, and the Boss part is the one you control. The CMI survey found that one in three people had left a job because of a negative work culture. Ask yourself what your answer to their one on one question would be: are these useful to you?
The one on one meeting builder makes the meeting worth having, and the management style quiz shows which habit you lean on. The 5 Minute Leader is the daily version of the same habits.
If you are leaving to start or run something
If you are leaving to start or run something because of a boss, check the reason twice. Having no boss is a real draw, and it is not a business plan. Founders answer to customers, investors and a payroll, and some find that harder than any manager.
The runway rule. Add up what you spend in a month, at home and in the new venture. Divide the money you can set aside by that figure. The answer is how many months of costs you have covered. Decide the number of months you need before you resign, not after, and write it down.
The CEO Mastermind is where founders test the plan with peers, and the executive coaching cost index shows the one to one route.
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
- Wrong LensSome of the friction may be coming with you. Test that first.
- Wrong WorkThe work no longer fits. A new boss would not fix it.
- Wrong DealThe exchange feels unfair. Ask plainly before you decide.
About this result
This is one of 4 results from the Should I Quit My Job Quiz: the work, the boss, the deal or the mirror, 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.