Good Bosses

[peteinct]

I'm a supervisor at the plant where I work. I was watching the show "The Office" and I hope that I'm not as big a jerk as that guy. I don't want to complain about bad bosses that's easy, I want to hear stories of good bosses instead. I do know there will be a lot less of them.

I've worked in the same dept almost 20 years and I have 2 bosses that I really liked. One, Jim, was tough hard on us about our jobs and what we should know and do. But I learned alot and our crew had an attitude like we were the best and that nobody was as good as us. And it was probably true.
   The other, Bob, was an energetic, likable guy who made working for him fun. He could make a game out of working, I once did almost 2 shifts worth of work just to see how much we could do. He also looked out for us trying to make it easier for us to be productive. That got him alot of kudos also.

  So, do any of you have tales of  good bosses you would like to talk about?

pete

[Typhoon]

My favorite boss of all time is Al.  He was a tax attorney and member of the Management Committee for the law firm I was at.  He was also the head of the Technology Committee when I was the Information Technology Manager for the whole place.  So, I directly reported to him.

Al likes nothing better than to fly to Washington D.C. and stick it to the I.R.S.  Heh.  He knew enough about technology, so we could have intelligent discussions, but he did not know enough to mess up what I was trying to accomplish.  He also let me run my shop without micromanagement.  He was fabulous about backing me up when there was a disagreement with the other staff/lawyers.

He also has a terrific sense of humor.  The day we were to cut over to a new telephone system, I had his preprogrammed phone ready to go, but it was disconnected and hidden under a chair in his office.  Instead of the new snazzy phone, I put an empty soup can and piece of string on his desk.  Heres your new phone Al!

He also stood by and laughed himself silly when two of the attorneys and I played a practical joke on one of the name partners.  And, he played along when I exacted some payback revenge on one of my team members who played a practical joke on my secretary.  

I could go on&

Oh, and in celebration of the purchase of his new convertible, he decided that he, my colleague/friend Lisa and I should take a two-hour lunch one Friday.  We got in the car, put the top down, and cruised up Pacific Coast Highway for a lunch in Malibu.

I havent worked for him in 10 years, but we still stay in touch.

I love Al.

[Chris]

As a magistrate, I work for one judge.  During my first month on the job, he came to see me almost daily, to ask how things were going and such.  He approved P.O.'s for a new desk chair ($500), a chair for the bench ($750), a flat panel computer monitor, and a new robe.  He approved me keeping a wepon at the bench, so long as it wasn't a "damned Glock".  Lately, he'll stop by from time to time to ask how things are going.  My docket is mine to control, so long as I don't develop a back-log of cases.  Starting time is between 8:00 and 9:00, quitting time is after 4:00.  I make the decision on my cases, and he defends me.  Recently, he has taken me to a few political events and introduced me to many of the power players as his protoge, and encouraged me to open an account for election expenses so I could start saving now.  

Not a bad boss, I'd say.  And, to top it off, he just invited me to come shoot his Class III Thompson.

Not bad at all...

[Strings]

can't say I've had any outstandingly GOOD bosses: some tolerable, some not so much, and currently work for a complete ahole...

























Oh... did I mention that I own where I work?

[Brad Johnson]

Seems like the best bosses are the ones who don't really boss at all. They take the time and effort to hire good people in key positions, then they step back and let things happen. They will intervene if necessary, but they will also stand up and cheer when it's deserved.

One of the best bosses I ever had was also one of the toughest. She was no-nonsense and all business in every sense of the phrases. It had to be perfect or else - "close enough" wasn't part of her vocabulary. But she was not the kind to shout about it and leave it up to you to figure it out. She would tell me it was wrong, then show me why, then show me how to correct it. On the flip side, she never EVER missed an opportunity to publicly praise my work when it met her expectations. And she never expected any more of me than she expected of herself. Of course, she expected a lot of herself! I only worked with her for a year, but learned more about business in those twelve months than in the previous twelve years.

Brad

[280plus]

I'm with Hunter, I'm the best boss I ever worked for.

[zahc]

The manager of the pizza store that I work for is my template for a good boss. He's a great guy, takes no B.S., treats both customers and employees with the respect they deserve (which isn't always a lot), and runs his business as efficiently as he can.