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What things have you despised in your past bosses? Even if you did not despite THEM, what things about them would you rather have different?
I would say:
1) Unfriendliness / lack of manners: Even lower-level bosses and supervisors should have good social skills. Failing to greet the employee or wish them goodbye is a major defect in my book. Worst of all was a "supervisor" I had who would not say "goodbye" when I did or "you're welcome" when I said "thank you".
2) "Only business" attitude: I prefer bosses to not exclusively talk about work in personal interactions. I rather prefer them to make "small talk" about the weather or food or some event outside of work before actually discussing business (when possible, of course). This lets me know them as a person and not solely as a boss, which tends, even though it is not my intent, to make me view them as an authoritarian slavedriver or nitpicker figure.
3) Voice: I never realized how important this was until I had a boss with an ANNOYING voice. It's sort of a high-pitched "whiny" voice. Even when she was trying to be "friendly", she still sounded like she was whining. Granted, her and my personality types didn't quite coincide well in the first place, but her voice aggravated the situation.
A supervisor, if male, should have a deep, calming voice; if female, she should have either a deep or "normal" voice.
You care about all the wrong things I must say. To me, it would be a boss who can't be organized enough to get priority straight and doesn't communicate priorities clearly.
I also hate a boss who doesn't fight for his/her people.
If someone complained, the complainer was automatically assumed to be right and the employee was assumed to be wrong unless they could prove that the allegations against them were false.
Frankly I care more about things that actually affect my work and my performance.
I want a boss to be consistent in their instructions / directions. I've had bosses who would change their minds from one week to the next about what they wanted or how or when. I ended up a gibbering wreck!
I want someone who isn't going to throw a screaming tantrum when something goes wrong.
I want someone who isn't going to bring their foul mood into the office and take it out on me.
I want someone who has some people-management skills (preferably with a sense of humour).
I want a boss who will tell me immediately if they have a problem with my work or attitude or whatever, not wait 6 months and then add it to my performance review so they can give me a lower grade.
I want a boss who will stick up for me in public, even if he/she reams me out in private
Thankfully my current boss has all the above positive traits. Long may it remain
In the setting I work in, and having observed a number of supervisors in that setting over the years, I have concluded that the best bosses are extroverted females. We have had introverted females, and introverted and extroverted males. While all of them can do the job, to varying degrees, we seem to get the best results as a team when there is an extroverted female running things.
We currently have an introverted male, and I think he has two strikes against him (gender and introversion).
Again, I am just speaking about the particular field and setting I work in, not making generalizations about gender and introverts/extroverts.
Even-tempered and predictable. Nothing is worse than a boss who everyone is afraid to approach because you don't know at any given moment if he/she will act like a reasonable human being or throw a big tantrum. That's the number one thing. Lots of other stuff is important, including just being competent, but for me sanity and predictability are tops.
I have been in management many years - female, extrovert - and the one rule I have always managed by is: treat your employees the way you would want to be treated. This rule has worked very well for me and when I have left a position, I have left people behind that truly care about me. Upper management is not an easy job but it can be made a lot easier by having a team of people working WITH you to get the job done.
This is in past tense, regarding my last boss (an attorney):
I wanted a boss who didn't revolve his schedule around trysts with his wh**e extramarital girlfriend, and expect me to reschedule appointments when it conflicted. I wanted a boss who ddin't call me from the golf course to postpone hearings he was due for just because it's a sunny day. I wanted a boss who didn't put me in the awkward position of answering questions about how "he was doing" after his wife kicked him out after finding out about extramarital affair with wh**e girlfriend.
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