How to handle / interact with / improve relationship with my 8 boss?
I'm a 1w2, likely tritype 146, working for a manager who is almost certainly a mid-health 8. I score highly on 8 on Enneagram tests and I "can" do conflict and debates, I just don't enjoy it and feel bad / emotionally drained after.
Pros of manager:
- well-meaning
- cares about his employees and the company mission
- protective of his employees
- makes effort to develop his employees' careers
- efficient, gets things done
- takes charge to make things happen
Cons of manager:
- impulsive
- inconsistent
- capricious
- tactless
- kind of a micromanager
- lack of self-awareness, laughs off own mistakes but quick to point out employees' mistakes
- takes charge when it's not his place (does this to other managers and project leaders)
- tendency to make decisions that increase efficiency even if they have the potential to bite the team in the butt long-term
- I can rarely predict how he's going to react
The pros are great, but the cons are frustrating, probably to anyone, but especially to a 1 - it's everything we hate and try to avoid. As much as I hate to admit it, I've lost respect for him based on these negative qualities and how he's handled certain situations. And yet I really want to like and respect him and I really want him to like and respect me. I remind myself of his good qualities multiple times per day.
He says he wants openness and honesty and values when people speak up, but when I do these things, it's a coin flip on whether he pushes back (that's fine, I've gotten used to it and know how to handle it) or shuts me down (less fine, I end up either defending my point or, more often, saying "sure, okay," both of which leave me feeling unvalued and with an emotional hangover). On occasion, he compliments me for speaking up, but that's more rare.
I'm trying to figure out how to interact with him. I feel like I'm doing something wrong, and I'm also confused - why say you want to know what I think and you want me to speak up and you want to make me into a leader, if you don't actually act like you value my opinion or my agency?
Figured I'd ask the 8s of Reddit for advice on this. Thanks!
Posted Mar 5, 2026, 2:31 AM UTC