I remember with fondness an old warrant officer who 1. Had firm ideas about what he wanted. 2' Ensured that we understood what he wanted. 3. Insisted that we give him what he wanted. 4. Got out of our way and let us do our jobs. 5. Had our backs.
On item 4, I don't mean that he was aloof; he was always available if we wanted to discuss things. But I never saw him micromanaging. Mr. Condon, wherever you are, it was a pleasure working for you. ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Bob Bridges <robhbrid...@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 8:13 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: There are good bosses and then there are the other kind I remember our group showing up early for an interdepartmental meeting. Our boss spent the time we waited deriding management's latest decisions. Then the bosses showed up and he praised their wisdom and leadership. Not very smart; even thinking that sort of thing in your own private head is dangerous, but to just out and say it in front of your subordinates...? /* ...in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound, and the winged creature will make the matter known. -Ecclesiastes 10:20 */ I've had the other kind too; in fact it seems to me I've had a bunch of them. The very best one came to me privately one day, saying he'd assigned a coding task to a coworker and he'd decided the coworker wasn't up to it, so would I mind volunteering my lunch hours for the next <unknown> days and the boss and I would hit a meeting room and work on it together? We never breathed a word of it to anyone else, and what I principally remember about those days was that EVERY SINGLE TIME we disagreed about how or at what point something had to be done in the code, he turned out to be right and I wrong. Every time. I'm used to being the smart one in the room, but not around him. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* Personally, I don't want politicians presuming to feel my pain; I'm happy if they respect my privacy. -Joseph Sobran, 1999 */ -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of Leonard D Woren Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 19:18 ....Two weeks later Les quit. His boss calls all of the workgroup into his office, points to Les and says "now here we have a rat deserting a sinking ship." He was half-right. It was a sinking ship. I gave it 3 years but it survived 6 years. Oh, and a few months later that manager was fired. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
