Where a man commits statutory rape and creates a sexually hostile work environment, you should have acted. The police in the first instance and the EEOC in the second instance. Since you are young enough, the 1964 civil rights act was in place when you first experienced this kind of management abuse. You can (and, damn well should) make an anonymous Title VII complaint – the EEOC will know who made the complaint – the employer never finds out.

If you are searching for personal integrity – start by following the law.

One further thing: I’ve noticed that Neanderthal managers are far more common during tough economic times – all other factors being equal.

I’m fortunate enough to have the best manager a person could ask for at my current job. I know that, because I look back at my two years here, and I can see how much I’ve grown as a _person_ through his management style. This has almost complete overlap with what you’ve written about.

I think the single most important aspect of all is transparency. My manager has put an enormous amount of effort into encouraging everyone on our team (and in the company) to use the shared wiki. The more we use the wiki, the more transparent we are. Thanks to this complete transparency, we’ve nearly eliminated meetings from our daily and weekly lives. Now that’s an improvement in quality of work-life!

As for the run-down on your previous bosses: Thank you. Somethimes I think I must sound like I’m in denial about myself when I describe my previous bosses as (in no particular order) crazy, power-hungry, ineffective, unstable, and crazy (did I say that one already?) I have had some doozies! It sounds like you have, too.

That’s how I was taught to manage by the examples in my life. Whenever I was in the position, it was the easiest way to get things done and ensure that my team was happy and healthy.

Many managers might be surprised that people do better with more freedom than with more rules. I’m training mine now

In Spirit,
Nneka

Of course it helps that I’m great at my job–probably partly due to having had some great managers.

I’ve had some bad managers. I think the worst ones are the ones who are genuinely afraid of people. I had one manager who would hide in their office and refuse to answer the phone or reply to emails. Then, when things started to go off the rails, they would select one of us to take the fall, and send them a nasty email asking them why they let things get so out of hand. They had the highest attrition rate in the company, and in one month alone, over 70% of their staff resigned.

At any rate, I’m out of that world now. It’s my belief that most corporations promote for the wrong reasons, such as performance or seniority. Unless they are extremely careful to select people with proven leadership and people skills, there will always be bad managers.