Something to doWorking with your manager
Learn your manager's goals
A simple exercise to understand what your manager is working toward, so your work can help them get there
Why it’s worth your time
A lot of misalignment with a manager starts with not knowing what they're trying to achieve. Your manager has goals, pressures and a boss of their own, and much of what looks arbitrary from your seat makes sense once you know them. Asking gives you a way to connect your work to what they need, which tends to be the most direct route to being trusted with more.
How to find out what your manager's goals are
You’ll come away with a clear picture of what your manager is working toward this quarter, and one way your work can help.
We’ll turn this into a checklist you can tick off.
- Ask for the time, and say why.
Put it on the agenda of your next 1:1, or ask for 20 minutes. Saying why up front keeps it from sounding like a complaint is on the way.
You“I'd like to understand what you're working toward this quarter, so I can make sure my work is helping. Could we use part of our next 1:1 for that?” - Ask what they're measured on.
The outcomes, numbers or deliverables their own boss will judge them by. Listen for the one or two that really count.
You“What are you being measured on this quarter? If your boss looked at one thing, what would it be?” - Ask what's worrying them.
This is often where the most useful answer lives: a project that's slipping, a stretched team, a stakeholder who's hard to please.
You“What's on your mind most right now, work-wise? Anything you're worried about?”Tip: Some managers can't share everything. Take what they can say and don't press for the rest.
- Ask what a good quarter would look like.
This turns their goals into a picture you can aim at.
You“If this ends up being a good quarter for you, what will have happened?” - Connect one thing back to your work.
Before you wrap up, name one way your work already helps with what you heard, or one thing you might shift. Afterward, jot down the gist for yourself so you can come back to it next quarter.
Good moments for this: at the start of each quarterwhen you get a new managerafter a reorg or a change in strategy
We’ll turn this into a checklist you can tick off.
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Many of their goals were handed to them, and some of the pressure they pass on comes from above. Knowing that tends to make their decisions feel less personal.
What might make this harder
That's common, especially after a reorg. Ask what they think their boss cares about most right now, and offer to come back to it in a few weeks.
Questions people ask
How do I find out what my manager's goals are?
Ask directly in a 1:1, and say you're asking so your work can help. Three questions do most of the work: what they're measured on, what's worrying them, and what a good quarter would look like.
Is it weird to ask my boss about their goals?
Rarely, if you say why you're asking. Put it on the agenda ahead of time so it doesn't come out of nowhere.
Why does my manager keep changing priorities?
Often because their own goals or pressures changed, sometimes from above. Knowing what they're measured on tends to make the shifts easier to anticipate and to talk about.
Why this works, and where it comes from
From your seat, a lot of what your manager asks for can look arbitrary. The deadline that suddenly moved, the project that got paused, the report that seems to go nowhere. Most of it makes sense once you know what your manager is measured on and what they're worried about. They have goals of their own, a boss of their own, and pressures you mostly can't see from where you sit.
Few people ask. It's easy to treat a manager as the person who hands out work and judges it, rather than someone with a job of their own. But the question is a generous one, and it usually lands that way. Managers are asked for things all day. Being asked what they need is rarer, and it tends to change how they see the person asking.
The payoff is in what you can do afterward. Once you know what a good quarter looks like for your manager, you can make better calls without checking every time: which request to do first, which problem to flag early, where a little extra effort counts. When your work visibly helps your manager succeed, it gets much easier for them to support you. And when you later say what you want for yourself, you can say it in terms that fit theirs.
It won't fix everything. Some managers can't share much, and some are unclear on their own goals, which is useful to know in itself. It also isn't the right move in the middle of a crisis, when your manager has no room to think past this week; wait for a calmer 1:1.
Other simple things to consider
More in Working with your manager
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An exercise written by Truest, based on our experience. Last updated October 2, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.