Learn French: Grâce à ce directeur, nous avions bien géré notre réputation. - Thanks to this director, we had managed our reputation well.

The phrase grâce à is used because the outcome is positive. It translates to 'thanks to' and gives credit for a good result (managing the reputation well). If the result were negative or neutral, you would use à cause de ('because of').

Why is it avions géré instead of the passé composé avons géré?

Avions géré is the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense, which translates to 'had managed'. It describes an action that was completed further in the past. It is formed using the imperfect tense of the helping verb avoir (avions) and the past participle (géré).

Why does the adverb bien go right in the middle of the verb avions géré?

In French compound tenses, short and common adverbs like bien (well), mal (badly), and déjà (already) are usually placed directly between the helping verb (avions) and the past participle (géré).

If the director were female, how would the first part of the sentence change?