Describe one positive leadership/managerial style you liked from one of your previous managers and how did that affect your workstyle

One manager I really liked had a habit of giving small, specific feedback every week instead of waiting until the end of a project. When I was working on a feature as a newer engineer, she would ask me to walk through my plan and then point out one or two things to tighten up, like edge cases or how I was structuring the work. That helped me improve much faster because I didn't spend a week going too far in the wrong direction. Over time, I started preparing more carefully before our meetings and bringing my own tradeoffs instead of just asking what to do. I also started doing something similar with an intern on my team by giving feedback earlier rather than only after they submitted everything.

One manager I really appreciated gave me a lot of autonomy by setting clear goals and then trusting me to figure out the how. When I was assigned a small reporting tool for our customer success team, she asked for measurable success criteria and a delivery date, then only checked in at two milestones unless I asked for help. That trust forced me to get better at scoping work, prioritizing the smallest usable piece, and documenting my decisions so stakeholders could follow along without daily updates. Because I knew she supported me even if things went wrong, I got comfortable trying different approaches and learning from fast iterations instead of waiting for perfect specs. Today I structure my tasks around outcomes and make concise, early alignments with others so I can move quickly while keeping everyone informed.