There’s a classic saying:
People don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses.
I very much agree with this statement. I’ve had jobs where I liked the job content but left because of my boss.
What I think is an important thing to point out though is this: it’s not just bad bosses, it could also be a mismatch with your boss. Such a mismatch can be many different things: different communication styles, different backgrounds,…
I’m not saying we should create little groups of like-minded people, but there’s value in reducing the amount of friction within a team. Especially when that friction is between people that have a different level of responsibility.
More and more companies are starting to realize this in the form of somebody ‘being a culture fit’, but for some reason, this seems to be forgotten when (re-)defining teams. People are grouped to form a team based on interests and competencies, while the manager-subordinate fit is forgotten.
Creating a good collection of teams is already incredibly difficult and this just adds another variable, making it even more difficult, but I am convinced it would lead to happier employees, which in turn would lead to higher productivity. Everybody wins!