I have never had a good manager, that I actually enjoy talking to and having around. He's very appreciative of all the work I do and makes it a point to make sure I'm comfortable. He talks to me about things that need to get done and he never stresses of I'm not able to get to it all. The unfortunate part is a large portion of his team is AWFUL. So his higher ups are getting on him for not delegating tasks and not keeping up on menial things. I see him slowly changing into every other manager, making check lists for us to complete and talking about writing people up. I don't want him to get fired or to turn into an insufferable douche-nozzle. Any advice?