Boss Roulette: Staying Sane When Your Manager Keeps Changing with Geoff McLachlan
No More Leadership BS
Boss Roulette: Staying Sane When Your Manager Keeps Changing with Geoff McLachlan
November 4, 2026
Your boss changed. Again. And the definition of a good job changed right along with them. This episode covers how to set your own standards, why three simple words can cool down a tense meeting and how to get on a new manager’s radar before they forget you exist. (One department went three months without being noticed. It’s in there.)
Boss Roulette: How to Win When the Person Grading You Keeps Changing

Picture this. A new district leader gets hired over the summer. By October, an entire school’s department still hasn’t heard from them. No email. No meeting. Not even a hello. So the staff did what any slightly bored, slightly annoyed team would do. They started a game to see how long they could go undiscovered.

Funny? Sure. It’s also what happens when the person in charge of your success is on a rotating circuit. Firings, promotions, burnout, reorgs... every new manager walks in with a fresh rulebook. This week the panel talks about keeping your sanity (and your results) when the finish line won’t sit still.

Write Your Own Scorecard
One panelist compared it to getting a new boss with every client. Different tone. Different unspoken expectations. For a self-described rule follower, that got maddening fast, because the rules kept changing. The fix was a personal standard of professionalism, presented up front: here’s how I work, will it fit what you need?

Most employees can’t walk away from a mismatched manager. A personal standard still works. It keeps you from deciding something’s wrong with you every time the target moves. Chase other people’s definition of your success and you’ll never catch it.

When the Loudest Voice Points at You
Now flip the chair. A panelist who has led healthcare turnarounds walked through what he did on arrival. He spent time with everyone, from the front office to the lab, to learn what was really going on. He showed the real numbers and hid nothing. Then he asked the team to help build the plan.

Trust didn’t come with the title. In one meeting, a nurse stood up, pointed at him and said she didn’t have to do what he told her. His answer: she was right. He wasn’t there to dictate. He was there to figure out, with them, how to keep caring for patients. She turned into one of the most influential voices in the turnaround. Years later, she still greets him with a hug.

Three Words That Put Out Fires
“Tell me more.” When someone challenges you, take a breath, holster the comeback and ask for more. People feel heard. The temperature drops. Close cousins include “walk me through your process” and “can you bring me up to speed?” Ask enough good questions and people often solve the problem themselves.

Two warnings. Fake curiosity smells like manipulation from a mile away. And overuse gets noticed. One panelist asked his sons so often that they now answer “How was school?” with “Fine. I know, tell you more” and then actually tell him.

Get on the New Boss’s Radar
For employees with a brand-new manager, the panel’s advice was refreshingly simple. Overcommunicate early so they know exactly who you are. Seek first to understand, then make sure your side gets understood too. And build a real relationship. Ask about their weekend. Ask what they do when they’re not working. Without a relationship, you don’t have influence.

The Bottom Line
Managers rotate. Metrics move. Your standards, your curiosity and your relationships come with you to the next boss and the one after that.

Tune in for:


The boss will change again. Make sure you’re the one they remember.

Have questions,  suggestions or just a great story to tell about some Leadership BS you have experienced? Let us know by emailing us 

Today's Featured Coach - 

Geoff McLachlan - Motivational Speaker, Trainer and Coach, Bringing Fun Back Into the Workplace,  Owner/Founder of Professionals At Play  Reach Geoff directly at geoff@professionalsatplay.com or 509-869-4506

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