Shiny Bosses

We’ve had our share of horrible bosses and share about “what it’s like to work for _(insert adjective/noun)_”, but I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about bosses who shine brightly.

I have more bosses than jobs and I’m fortunate to have more good bosses than bad ones.  I also believe that you don’t appreciate the good bosses enough until you’ve had bad bosses.  Here’s a short list of actions that you have a good boss.

1. They will talk to you and treat you with respect.  I’ve had a manager (who was younger than me) who yelled at me in front of customers.  She’d get annoyed with my presence, and snapped at me when I spoke to her or asked her questions about work.  The owners of the store were nicer to me than the manager.  Since then, I’ve had awesome employers who talk to me and treat me with respect.  “Hi” and “thank you” are in every good boss’s vocabulary.  The people I’ve worked longest for have always expressed their appreciation for my hard and high-quality work.
2. They do everything in their power to help you reach your goals.  Your boss knows that you’re one of the best (if not the best) employee they have, and they shouldn’t keep you from reaching your goals.  They’ll offer you more money and better titles to keep you because they know how valuable you are, but once you’re ready to take the next step in your career, they’ll allow you to use them as references and write letters of recommendation for you.  If you offer a service, they will recommend you to people they know (with a need for your service).  They’re risking their name and reputation for you, so don’t ruin it.
3. They will still give you something even in difficult financial times.  A business isn’t always in good financial health, or there’s an economic downturn, but bosses are willing to take a pay cut to keep you until the business gets more sales or the economy gets better.  At the end of the year, there will still be a party or bonus for everyone, even though it’s modest, don’t be stupid and complain.
4. Their life experiences shaped who they are as a boss that benefits YOU.  One of my current employers is interesting in that she pays me the time it takes me to travel to work.  I found out through her son that her husband wasted a lot of time in traffic, so now, he only takes public transportation to and from work.
5. If you have any concerns, tell them and they will do something about it.  As a paper bead roller, one time, I rolled Gone with the Wind.  I had to use 5 layers of paper and there was a lot of paper in the bag, and they were dumped in messily after she had cut them.  I spent 4 hours organizing them by size (one of my tricks to get them to look so good).  I told her about spending those 4 hours and asked her if she could place the paper in neater stacks.  She was more than OK with it and still continues to put paper in orderly stacks.  I think it was also this incident where I asked if I could get more money for rolling beads with multiple layers of paper, because it took more time.  She said she thought about it on her way home from work during rush hour, and gave me a modest increase.  As a babysitter, if I wanted to do a activity and materials are required, I would let my boss know what the activity is and the materials required, and everything would be there by the time I showed up.  I talk a lot about my failure at my first attempt of the edTPA on this blog and the costs associated with it.  I’ve developed good relationships with these bosses (in #5) and once I told them about my failure and the costs, they offered me money for the test, either a loan or flat-out pay it for me.  My intention wasn’t to ask for money but to ask for work and to share this difficult time in my life and career.

I have amazing employers! Let your boss shine in the comment section!