Can you effectively work with leadership you don't trust?

>you have people higher on the corporate ladder

OTOH it can also be challenging when it's not higher on the organization chart.

These are two different conditions, but either way one good approach might be not to functionally work with them if it's not productive for you.

You can often work around a bozo wherever you find it.

Even if it can't last forever, if you are a very trustworthy and productive employee the time spent can still contribute to a career which is strongest on those desirable features. If you end up having nothing else to show for it, that would still be things that not everybody has.

The thing you have to really curtail is the natural tendency to intimidate the less-technically qualified, and especially the less-suitable-for-leadership operators above you on the ladder.

And whether or not you would really want to climb the ladder at that exact org is the thing to often reconsider the whole time you are there.

A lot of times if you want to move up, or simply not have to "work around" slugs, the only way might be to migrate toward a different company having a noticeably more trustworthy chain-of-command. Where your own productivity and trustworthiness can flourish without undue roadblocks, speed bumps, and potholes to navigate.

You may need to virtually imagine what it would be like if proper decisions were being made, each time a bozo drops the ball, to get a good idea if you are still making as much progress as you would prefer to do.

Edit:

>What if the manager above sees no issue with such people?

In an org where technical ability is not much of a defining characteristic in the chain-of-command, the manager above can not move ahead until he has a report who fits that mold to move up and fill his own position. That's your bozo and some of the privileges & incentives they have for being that way.

This scenario is so common it's important to learn to deal with it.

Focus on what you can control and ignore the rest.

Based on the list of people you "don't respect" I'd ask yourself if you're perception of your own ability could be part of the problem.

As others have said, this is par for the course. Competence all around you -- in most places -- is at best a transient phenomena, if you're a top 25% thinker. Assuming you are a top thinker, and you want to be challenged, then you could -- and should -- try to join an elite team elsewhere (e.g. FAANG+), but these opportunities are scarce and not equally available to all of us.

A more general strategy would be to realise what you can do is conditional on the world as it is, and try to make the best of that, improving incrementally as the opportunities arise. But this of course curtails a mind that is trying to produce the best its capacities will allow it.

I think that "making the best of it" is what most of "us" end up doing by the time we are in our 40s, and I would conjecture that here on HN you will find far more beautiful flowers that never blossomed than those that took their full bloom, for much the same reasons you mentioned, and the adaptions given above.

Yes. Every single company I have worked for applies here.

Good salary and remote work is worth it.

Does the paycheck clear?

Other than that, just have a backup plan for an exit.

You have to focus on your role. Sometimes bad leadership is good for a diligent IC - don’t solve the problems of the world, focus on what you are accountable for.

On the other side, as a technical team lead (who is responsible for the final tech decision), it's also tiring to both solve challenges and try to explain + persuade the junior team mates about why i have such decision.

The hardest part, is the base knowledge is different , both from theoretical and empirical knowledge.

It's so prevalent. I am dealing with it. Find the good people and stick with them!

Yeah I think you kind of have to.

You don't have to agree, just nod your head and smile politely. You can still do your own thing. You can ask for data, working examples, evidence, proof of concept to substantiate any wild claims. You can politely say, "that's a great idea, _you_ should do that!" or "I don't think I'm the right person to execute your vision here, but I hope you find someone."

Remember that they're probably well-intentioned, and acting in good faith. Trust them... to advocate for their own interests and priorities, which may be different from yours, which you'll have to find ways to advocate for yourself.

It’s truly a bad thing when your role starts to change because of their vision, idea etc

This exact situation caused me to burn out hard as a dev.

Had a thick-as-dogshit “product owner” with absolutely no technical skills, no vision, just fucking clueless and arrogant.

I cared and tried to make “good decisions” but they sabotaged the project. Then they scapegoated me to leadership when the project was dogwater.

Gonna have to.