Over and over, the advice given here and by experts is to quit if you have an irredeemably bad manager: “You can't put a price on happiness.”
Is that really true?
I am currently in a unicorn startup in a relatively high-profile external-facing role. Let's say that, conservatively, each month I stay there is worth $100,000 in cash and equity (obviously tilted toward the latter, but they are likely to IPO within 12 months).
The problem is that I have aforementioned horrible manager. You name a problem with management style, I am currently facing it. Micromanaging to the level of criticizing the phrasing of emails? Check. Blocking me of any significant autonomy? Yep. Perpetually angry and frustrated that they are surrounded by incompetent people? Uh huh. Always angry and no filter to stop them from lashing out? Bingo. The list goes on: information hoarding, vindictiveness, unclear objectives, complete lack of strategy, zero constructive feedback (ever), has never changed their mind about anything I've ever said, undermining my relationships with stakeholders, and so on. I am the first full-time employee they ever managed, but now that they have brought on several more, everyone here feels the same, so it's not just me (even though knowing that doesn't help me from feeling like trash all the time). Some of my colleagues cry on a regular basis after meeting with this manager.
I don't think my boss is ever going to change ANY of this. The job is definitely affecting my mental health, putting strain on my relationships, etc. But at the same time, this is life-changing money. It means I could make more in a couple of years than many people make in a lifetime (though of course none of that is guaranteed given how equity works).
I'm exploring options for a transfer (but am almost certain they would try to block me), documenting everything in a non-work-PC file, considering going to HR. But if none of those work, I'm not really sure what I should do. I have feelers out to contacts about new roles, but the job market for my specialty is tight right now.