Added: July8, 2015
By: Tracey Segarra
The first conversations we have with friends when we enter the workforce are often gripes about what our bosses did or didn’t do that day, or how they helped or sabotaged our budding careers.
It often isn’t until much later in our careers, however, that we realize how each boss helped shape us and our working lives.
My least favorite bosses taught me what not to do in the workplace (public humiliation via flip chart is a definite no-no, but more on that later). My most beloved bosses, meanwhile, weren’t always the kindest (at least at first), but they were patient, and they valued me and treated me with respect.
My first boss when I was fresh out of college and working as a temp secretary was engaging and warm. He recognized that I was smart enough to do more than my temp duties required and taught me how to use a word processing machine. He was also funny as hell and I loved coming in to work each day because with him supervising me, the often dull tasks I needed to perform became less of a chore.
Ed taught me that making a personal connection with your employees and helping them gain new skills matters much more than money. I was motivated to do good work for him not because I had any interest in the business he was helping run or wanted a raise, but because I craved his attention and his praise. And in the process, I helped the company and learned a lot.
My first gruff, but fair boss threw me into the lion’s den the second I walked in the door as the newest cub reporter on the city desk at United Press International, the wire service. New York City’s first black police commissioner had just resigned. Don handed me a file of clippings and told me to have a story on his desk within the hour.
From him I learned that UPI’s motto – “A deadline every minute” wasn’t just a motto; it was words I’d have to live by if I was going to make it as a wire service reporter.
Once I proved myself a fast and accurate reporter (after some trial and error), his gruffness subsided and he later became a dear friend, who gleefully squired me around the dance floor at my wedding to Frank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon.”
On the flip side, I learned a valuable lesson in how not to treat employees from the president of a non-governmental organization where I briefly worked as an office manager. As the only full-time employee, I was responsible for ordering supplies, carrying out all of the secretarial duties and planning events when the board of directors came to town for their quarterly meetings.
After setting up the conference room with a pot of coffee and Danish, I went back to my duties and shortly afterwards left the building to go get lunch. When I returned to the office, my desk chair had been pushed aside and a flip chart was there in its place. In bold, black lettering, it read, “Where are you? Out stuffing your face?” Apparently the coffee pot had run dry, and I was the only person skilled enough to replenish it.
From that experience, I learned that public humiliation breeds, at its best, resentment and anger, and at its worst, a letter of resignation (which I tendered shortly afterwards).
Another tough boss gave me a huge bump in salary and the opportunity of a lifetime for a job that I was not qualified for because he knew I was hungry and smart and would quickly learn. He also kept me on my toes by coming by my office from time to time and asking, “What is it I pay you for again?” From him I learned to take a chance on smart, motivated people – even if their resumes don’t match the job description.
I use the lessons I’ve learned from these bosses (both good and bad) every single day.