204: Manager questions on the front page of Reddit - and what they reveal about leadership

We’re in a moment of weird contradictions in the workplace: you’re supposed to set clear expectations, but not micromanage; delegate, but not let things spin out; do more with less. It’s exhausting—and it’s why so many leaders feel stuck.

In this week’s episode of The New Manager Playbook, I walk you through three real‑world questions that landed in the “r/Managers” subreddit and how to turn each one into a manager skill you can use:

• A new employee asking for more visibility and wondering, “Why am I not in all the meetings?”
• Taking over a team and being asked to deliver feedback for work you never set or reviewed.
• An open‑calendar policy—but your team still asks, “Why can’t I be in everything?”

We talk about the deeper ask behind each one: it’s rarely entitlement. It’s belonging. Clarity. Recognition. And we explore the two‑minute question you should ask next time you’re frustrated: What is this person really trying to say? Then you’ll know exactly what to do.

Tune in and let’s strip away the noise, reset your baseline, and build managing into the easy part of your job.

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