Every workplace seems to have one. A manager who goes silent for days, then suddenly reappears in the team chat the moment senior leadership checks in. They’ll swoop in to take credit for the work they hadn’t touched, and say, “Oh yes, we’ve been addressing that.”
This type of boss shows up when there’s an audience, then vanishes as soon as the higher-ups leave. I’ve started calling them the performative manager, because that’s exactly what they are.
The rise of the performative manager
To performative managers, actually leading isn’t really the point. All they care about is looking like they’re leading. Performative managers care more about optics than outcomes, and their favorite project is themselves.
It sounds like something out of a bad office comedy, but it’s a reality that’s become easier to spot as more work happens online. A Resume Genius Report found that 62% of Gen Z employees face high performance expectations but little support, and more than half rarely get feedback from their managers.
That’s not a small problem. Gallup research shows that managers shape roughly 70% of how engaged a team feels, which means one bad boss can drag an entire department down.
Think your boss might be a performative manager? Here are five signs to watch for:
1. They promise support, then ghost you the second you need it
If your boss is great at saying “I’m here for you” but never proves it, you might be dealing with a performative manager. They love looking supportive, but rarely follow through.
One of my friends, let’s call her Sarah, learned this the hard way. During her first one-on-one at a banking firm, her manager said all the right things, such as “If there’s a problem, we’ll work through it together.” It sounded reassuring at the time. But when client requests started piling up and Sarah was drowning in email, that same manager was nowhere to be found. Sarah eventually figured things out on her own and sought help from her coworkers instead.
What to do: When your manager disappears, get scrappy. Ask teammates for insight, look for past examples, or test a solution yourself. The more resourceful you become, the less you’ll need to wait around for someone else’s “guidance.”
2. They only come to you during performance review season
If your boss suddenly remembers you exist right before review season, chances are they’re preparing for their evaluation, not yours. You’ll recognize the signs: more one-on-ones, warmer Slack messages, and maybe even a surprise “training session” that conveniently proves how engaged they’ve been all along.
What to do: Use that sudden burst of attention to your advantage. Bring up projects you’ve led, the impact you’ve made, and what kind of support would help you grow next.
Document your achievements (and keep them visible) so there’s a clear record of your work. If your success makes them uneasy, don’t shrink back. Instead, play it smart: share wins in ways that highlight the whole team’s progress, for example, mentioning how your idea helped everyone hit a deadline or made a process easier.
3. They repeat your solution verbatim in meetings
You share an idea with your manager, and it’s crickets. Later on, your manager repeats the idea word for word in a meeting, and suddenly it’s “brilliant.” It’s not that they don’t hear you. They just save your insight for when it benefits them most.
What to do: As tempting as it might be, resist the urge to confront them mid-meeting. Instead, start putting your ideas in writing where you have a clear trail in emails, shared docs, or Slack channels. If your idea suddenly reappears in a meeting, jump in with calm confidence: “Yes, that’s exactly what I was exploring earlier, and here’s how we could take it further.” It’s respectful, direct, and makes it clear that the idea started with you.
You might also want to consider looping in higher-ups and collaborators so that it becomes more difficult for anyone else to take credit for your contribution. If you can, build relationships with other managers or team leads who notice your work. Good leaders can spot performative ones, and having someone credible to back you up helps protect your reputation.
4. They never admit they’re wrong
My former colleague Dan used to lose his mind over his previous manager. “He’d ask what I thought about a problem,” Dan told me, “then immediately cut me off with, ‘No, that’s incorrect,’ even when I was literally describing the right solution.”
Performative managers can’t stand being wrong because they see it as a threat to their authority. They prioritize looking competent over actually improving.
And when something does go wrong, they’re quick to turn the spotlight elsewhere. If higher-ups are asking questions, that “miscommunication” or “missed deadline” suddenly becomes your fault. Over time, this can slip into gaslighting. You might start replaying conversations in your head, trying to figure out if you really missed something. You didn’t.
What to do: When disagreements come up, reframe your input in neutral terms, like: “Let’s test both options and see which one works best.” Staying outcome-focused protects your time and mental health.
If your manager pins the blame on you, respond factually and calmly. Reference what you had agreed on or shared: “As mentioned in the update last week, I followed the plan we discussed.” No one really wins an argument by losing their temper, but you can by keeping receipts.
5. They turn mentoring into a show of ego
If “never admitting they’re wrong” is annoying, this is its final form. My friend Sarah called her manager “a walking pop quiz” who acted like everything was already his idea, and “everyone else was just trying to catch up to his galaxy brain.”
For Sarah, every one-on-one started the same way: “So, what do you think went wrong here?” followed by a smug “Nope,” regardless of what she’d say. Performative managers enjoy playing teacher to remind everyone how smart they are. Beneath the surface, it’s less about teaching and more about control.
What to do: Try to make these interactions short and focused. If they interrupt your work with “learning opportunities,” politely acknowledge them, give a brief update on your progress, and find a natural way to end the conversation. You can always wrap things up with a soft exit like, “I need to prep for my next meeting, but I’ll send you an update later.”
Performative managers rarely fool people for long. The corporate world has no shortage of them, and knowing how to navigate them without losing your sanity will help you work smarter. Your power move isn’t calling them out. Let them perform. The real professionals are too busy getting things done.
