Remembering a boss/supervisor you liked :)

I used to work as a security guard at a school building in Downey, about 15 miles southeast of downtown L.A. The man who showed me the ropes was a supervisor named Tom Matthews. He was firm if necessary, but for the most part he was a true nice guy, and I thrived under this authority. The client supervisor was, and perhaps still is, a nice guy too. They may overlook small errors you make; they may stick up for you in a difference of opinion with someone else; they speak to you in a civil, non-contemptuous manner. Please post situations of booses you remember favorably. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Ed Yezo. I worked for him at AT&T Corp. Headquarters back in '81 or '82. Sweet guy, very nice boss—and cute, too! Never sexually harrassed me, darnit.

I still use AT&T because the people there were so nice. And these were the “suits,” too!

Robert Ditto.

He made up for all the shit bosses I had before, though I still haven’t quite forgiven him for leaving.

He could spontaneously quote Monty Python, he knew when to cut people slack and when to call them on the carpet, he let me do my job without crawling up my butt about stats, and he shielded me and my teammates from the corporate bullshit going on over our heads.

Oh, yeah, and whenever he got an email, you could hear his computer play a soundbite from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - an arrow being fired and hitting one of the squires, then the squire gasping “Message for you, suh!”

I miss him. :frowning:

I tended to like most of bosses, but I suspect it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

This sounds really pathetic, but I can’t remember ever having a boss/supervisor that I liked. I’ve had lots of co-workers that were really great, even bordering on fantastic, but I’ve never had a superior that I really respected. And it doesn’t have to be this way. My current boss is a great guy who knows his technical stuff and is a good friend outside of the office, but he can’t manage worth a shit. In fact, he doesn’t manage me at all. I do my job and that’s that. The only time he ever talks to me about what’s going on here is when either he has another project to give me, or when something I’ve done has blown up and he needs help fixing it. Hey, maybe not managing me is the best thing a manager can do. Just let me do what I do best. But I still don’t respect him.

I must lead a semi-charmed life. I’ve had lots of bosses and supervisors that were great to work for and became mentors in my working career. One of my professors in college gave me my first computer related job which lead to even more jobs. A stint as the tech at a literal mom and pop operation taught me about PCs and networking. A few steps from there was my nearly seven year stint at Biosphere 2. I lost track of the number of bosses there but one of the good ones got me started doing Oracle database programming. I learned enough so that when things got really sucky at Bio2 I was able to step into a real job with good pay, benefits, a great environment and another good boss.

Well…there was my boss at…no,wait he was a jerk

Then there was my supervisor at…No…he was fired for fraud.

Wow…sorry,I just realized I can’t think of any!


Rich “G7SUBS”

I have had three outstanding bosses!

In my first “real” job, I worked for a man who was the closest thing to a genius that I’ve ever met. He was my mentor for 7 years, encouraging me to learn & grow and tackle new assignments. I always felt that I was listening at his level - never that he was speaking at my level.

The second was a brilliant corporate politician. He, too gave me encouragement as I took on new responsibilities. I learned a lot about corporate management and coaching from him.

The third is my current boss. He’s an extremely insightful observer of people and styles. I’ve learned a lot from watching him handle very contentious situations. He’s a great mediator. Unfortunately, we’re about to get reorganized and it isn’t even clear if there’s going to be a place here for either one of us.

In between those gems, there have been some mediocrities and a couple of assholes, but I guess I’ve been lucky to have been associated with these three.