Ten Bosses I Worked With

Good, Bad

In my IT/Software career, by now, I’ve worked with multiple bosses (or managers or leaders).

I’m writing this post about 10 bosses that I would never forget for their qualities. To state obvious, I would not name anyone. The use of “He” can be read as “She” as well. However, as male author, I’m using “He”everywhere.

1. The Academic Myth-buster — Good One

At one point in my career, I had great opportunity to work under a boss who was a myth-buster about general misconceptions about degrees, academic scores.

This boss never had great academic background and he never hid from it. He is always forward looking, result oriented, highly dedicated.

The great qualities I learned from this boss,
1. Never allow someone state your weaknesses. You are the only person who knew your weaknesses and strengths. Others see what they want to see in you.
2. Avoid negative discussions yet understand root causes to fix those negative points.
3. Always keep learning as long as it takes you forward.
4. Be empathetic.

2. The Academic Myth-buster — The Bad One

I have got chance to work with a boss who is exceptional at his academics. I was thrilled when I was asked to work in his team. But soon, I had learned it is nightmare working with him.

The qualities I hoped he could display are,
1. Be empathetic. Why, this boss has no sense of empathy in any discussion.
2. Give attention to things that are important. This boss being exceptional academic guy, he always used to spend lot of time reviewing for things that practically had no use. Do not get lost in name of perfection in every thing you do.
3. Spare time to improve skills.
4. Listen to team even if their ideas are not making sense.

3. The Shield Boss — The Good One

This boss is like a shield everyone looks up for. He is always there when a problem comes, but come a victory he is always at backseat letting team enjoy success. This boss is a rare gem in terms of displaying leadership skills.

The great qualities I learned from him are,
1. Be empathetic.
2. Let team focus on their job. Isolate them from any unnecessary bureaucratic things.
3. Give confidence that he is there when there is need.
4. Be a good catalyst in team activities.

4. The Micro Managing Boss — The Bad One

Micro managing boss is ought to be a bad one. There is no denial on this one. This boss was obsessed with micro management so much, he literally used to calculate even time spent for restroom breaks by his team. It is just horrible working with this boss.

I wish he would not be micro managing so much instead focus on smart managing.

5. The Indecisive Boss — The Bad One

This boss is basically shocker in my career. He is personally too good as person and friend. But, when it comes to profession, he trapped himself in office bureaucracy.

The qualities I wish he had are,
1. Be decisive.
2. Be confident.
3. Don’t trap in bureaucracy.

6. The Show Off Boss — The Bad One

I had a boss who has a habit of working 18–20 hours a day. Yet he was never successful. Why, this hard work was never real work. He basically does Show Off.

He would send emails to team at very odd times like 1AM, 3AM. He would regularly set meetings again at inconvenient times like exactly at lunch timings or very early mornings. He would make long calls (like 1 hour or more) to a person who is on vacation (and/or personal times like watching movie, visiting doctor).

The qualities I wish he had are,
1. Be empathetic.
2. Do not work to show off.
3. As a boss, be strength to team not weakness.

7. The Accounting Boss — The Good and Bad One

I had worked with a boss who is very good with numbers. Sometimes he would amaze everyone with his ability at grasping numbers that matter. Sometimes it would cross a line to go in to personal space of team members.

The great qualities I saw and qualities I wish he had are,
1. There is always a personal space for team member. Respect that.
2. Always be good at numbers even though your job doesn’t demand that. It is additional skill that would make people good.

8. The Realistic Boss — The Good One

At one point in my career, I was asked to make a proposal for a probable client. I put all my best effort in making the presentation which was readily accepted by client.
Now, when we went celebrating, there came a “Big Boss” basically Boss to my Boss, who declared we are celebrating a failure.
It sent shocker to me and my boss.

What we didn’t accounted for is, we had wrong assumption about available resources to fulfill the proposal.

Qualities I learned from this boss,
1. Be Realistic.
2. Do not hide from truth even it hurts you or fails you.

9. The Panic Boss — The Bad One

Statistically there is nothing that can be called 100% fault proof system. As a boss, one should prepared for any failures or faults or setbacks. This boss never had any plan to handle faults. His single point plan is push down that panic.

This boss used to push down any panic that was created as a result of escalation back to team so amplified that, the team would lose their confidence in fixing the issue.

Qualities I wish he had are,
1. Do not panic when an escalation arises. After all, it is your system that got fault, no one else can fix it better than your team.
2. Always have multiple plans even if you are executing only one plan.

10. The Absentee Boss — The Bad One

At one point of time, I had worked with a boss who would rarely show up to any meeting he was invited for by the team. During his presence at team, he would be absent minded, attending to other things like chatting on phone/laptop, looking uninterested. He is always super busy with many things only God knew what are those.

Qualities I wish he had are,
1. Be available to team.
2. Be attentive.