I work in a technical field (want to keep a bit vague for anonymity).
This is my 2nd job after university (previous job lasted 5 years) and I got this job a year ago. I was recruited by the previous manager, who was not an expert in my field. It’s quite a senior role and was a great step-up for me in a new industry with new experiences and a big pay rise, really good in fact. Part of the role was to set up and lead a new team, again good experience because I’d not managed people before. The people are now in place and doing well.
My manager left after 6 months and his replacement joined 2 months later. He knows more than his predecessor about what I do, which I was pleased about because I’m still learning and thought he’d be able to support me more.
At first it was good. I’d asked for weekly check ins- he advised me on next steps, stuff about projects, people management etc. More recently the tone has changed a bit. There was a recent project which didn’t go too well, but I learned a lot from.
Since then he’s started being more directive and then following up on if I’ve done the things he’s ‘suggested’. He’s started questioning me a lot more, putting everything in emails, talking more to my team about their work, asking me what I’m doing. It’s like he suddenly doesn’t trust me and it’s frustrating. I’ve told him that I’ve learnt from the issues in the recent project but he seems unconvinced and recently talked about ‘concerns’.
How can I get him to back off a bit but still support me? Should I worry?