as a manager, how can I stop saying “we” when I mean “you”? including my cats in my business messaging, talking to an employee’s mother while they’re on medical leave, and more Being a good manager is hard, and managers often don’t get a lot of guidance. Our guest is a new-ish manager who wants to make sure she’s doing a good job. Learn more about your ad-choices at See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Creator of Ask a Manager – home to all your questions about lunch-stealing bosses, coworkers who won't stop hugging you, and how much you can drink at work. There are some exceptions to that. There are managers who have demonstrated that they won’t make it weird. But even then, you have the right to be uncertain about that and to choose to protect yourself by not sharing the info until you have something actionable to report. Ask a Manager: Send us your workplace questions Richard Pohle/WPA Pool/Getty Images I am not a perfect manager. I’ve made lots and lots of mistakes, which I’ve then dwelled on obsessively, and I definitely don’t have all the answers. What I do here is try to offer insight into how managers and interviewers think, and use that to help you navigate workplace weirdnesses. Ask a Question If you have a question you’d like to see answered here, send it to askamanager@gmail.com. I can’t answer every question that I receive, but I answer as many as I can get to. Questions that are over 600 words have less chance of being answered. Exceptions are sometimes made for fascinating questions. Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-stealing Bosses and the Rest of Your Life at Work: Alison Green's book is a must read for everyone with a job. ask the readers jerks references bad advice job offers rejections bad interviewer behavior job search: following up resigning being the boss job searching resumes cover letters law + order salary external recruiters layoffs short answers family, friends & significant others me, media, etc. students firing miscellaneous thank-you notes freelancing mortification the plague advice for new managers AI at work ask the readers bad advice bad interviewer behavior being the boss classics cover letters external recruiters family, friends & significant others firing freelancing gimmicks won’t get you a job happy endings happy endings: friday good news hiring interesting jobs internships interviewing jerks job offers.