shoutout to the kickass managers

It has been my experience that most managers are douches without question. Every now and again you find one that is truly awesome. I've worked for my current manager for a little over 4 years (at two different companies). He just gets it. He shows us respect, let's us do our work without question, and always has our backs when dealing with issues. He's purchased in excess of 8k worth of gear for my home lab and bought all of my test prep material/books. The other day I had a talk with him about my future and that I wanted to shoot for my CCIE. Even though he knows that if I get it I'll more than likely leave where I'm at for a larger environment or self employment he agreed to buy all of my CCIE materials (books, INE, narbik bootcamp, lab gear, etc.). Another thing that just blew me away is that my family and I are leaving on vacation to Disneyland tomorrow. I ask him last night if he would mind if I borrowed his iPad. He says go to the Apple store, buy an iPad2, and expense it back; its a thank you for all of your hard work during the data center migration we did a few weeks back. Unreal... Is there any wonder that I bust my rump for this guy?

Anyone else have a good manager?

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Comments

the_Grinch

Wow, my managers suck compared to that guy (lol). But seriously, I feel overall my managers are pretty good. We're pretty small, so it feels like I have a lot of managers, but the two I work with directly are awesome. I am fairly type A and voice my opinion a lot, they give me just enough rope not to hang myself. Plus they are supportive of future goals and making you happy at work (as much as they can anyway). We get bonuses and they pay for all certs (will buy the books, not equipment or bootcamps). Overall, pretty good company to be on with! Congrats to you though, sounds like you have a good gig!

effekted

unclerico wrote: »

It has been my experience that most managers are douches without question. Every now and again you find one that is truly awesome. I've worked for my current manager for a little over 4 years (at two different companies). He just gets it. He shows us respect, let's us do our work without question, and always has our backs when dealing with issues. He's purchased in excess of 8k worth of gear for my home lab and bought all of my test prep material/books. The other day I had a talk with him about my future and that I wanted to shoot for my CCIE. Even though he knows that if I get it I'll more than likely leave where I'm at for a larger environment or self employment he agreed to buy all of my CCIE materials (books, INE, narbik bootcamp, lab gear, etc.). Another thing that just blew me away is that my family and I are leaving on vacation to Disneyland tomorrow. I ask him last night if he would mind if I borrowed his iPad. He says go to the Apple store, buy an iPad2, and expense it back; its a thank you for all of your hard work during the data center migration we did a few weeks back. Unreal... Is there any wonder that I bust my rump for this guy?

Anyone else have a good manager?

/envy. Maybe 1 day..

QHalo

I have been very blessed to have two managers, including my current one, that have really shown what it's like to be a manager that understands the concept of "taking care of those that take care of you". It's a two way street and hard to leave those guys for other career moves because there are definitely a shortage of managers like that.

cyberguypr

I'm also lucky. I started a new job back in April and a few months later my manager approved Exchange and Lync training. I complained of a slow PC and got a fully loaded Dell XPS. He believes we al know what we have to do so there's no need for breathing down anyone's neck.

Now, on my previous job I was under a penny pincher who refused to buy us absolutely everything. Things had to be done his way even if it didn't make any sense. It was so bad that when we requested an iPad for documentation and support when traveling to our remote site, he went and bought two kindles. That was over a year ago and to this day the kindles are unused in a drawer.

Turgon

QHalo wrote: »

I have been very blessed to have two managers, including my current one, that have really shown what it's like to be a manager that understands the concept of "taking care of those that take care of you". It's a two way street and hard to leave those guys for other career moves because there are definitely a shortage of managers like that.

The world has many managers. Contrary to popular belief often held by people who have never been one, it is actually not at all easy to manage really well. Far too many managers lack the qualities to be truly good at what is a personally challenge job to do properly.

QHalo

Turgon wrote: »

The world has many managers. Contrary to popular belief often held by people who have never been one, it is actually not at all easy to manage really well. Far too many managers lack the qualities to be truly good at what is a personally challenge job to do properly.

I think you're agreeing with me, but I'm not sure.

Turgon

QHalo wrote: »

I think you're agreeing with me, but I'm not sure.

Agreeing with you.

QHalo

Turgon

on topic,

If I've done anything, its attempted to gather anecdotal evidence of times where I believe that one of my managers handled a situation well or not well and apply that going forward to when or if I ever become a manager. It's even good to keep that in mind when dealing with a current or future manager as it puts some perspective into why they may behave a certain way.

MrRyte

Kudos to you. A manager of that caliber is a rare find. If only more managers and higher ups truly understood the nuances of management then there wouldn't be shows like "The Office".

Turgon wrote: »

The world has many managers. Contrary to popular belief often held by people who have never been one, it is actually not at all easy to manage really well. Far too many managers lack the qualities to be truly good at what is a personally challenge job to do properly.

Exactly. There's A LOT more to being a manager than just dictating and delegating. Having been a valet supervisor; I've felt that I was babysitting more that managing. I definately would take some managerial/executive courses before I consider going back into another type of supervisor position.

And I can tell you from right now-IF I ever become an IT supervisor, I'd probably create more enemies than friends. I say this because I've seen some IT people act as if they're exempt from the corporate policy of dress code and conduct (coming to work in flip-flops and torn jeans; offering people assistance yet insulting with the inside "ID10T error" joke and quite a few other unprofessional infractions.....)

NOC-Ninja

i envy you. i have to spend my own money for my lab. i missed my old manager. he was a gym rat, we (team of 4 ) used to hit the gym at lunch everyday. on fridays, we always go to bjs restarant for lunch to eat and drink a little. i remember one time his boss called us while at bjs and he covered our ass by saying im having a meeting with my team. he was the best boss ever.

the_Grinch

I think that the problem with some managers is where they came from. Usually you get either someone who was a great tech and the company felt they needed to promote (but they aren't great at managing) or someone who just has the management experience (can't troubleshoot their own computer). I am lucky in my direct manager is very technical and is a great manager. I have a lot of respect for him because I always feel like he truly thinks everything through. He's quite (complete opposite of me, the loud mouth), but the knowledge he has in incredible. My other manager (Director of Operations) was a tech a long time ago, but that gives him the knowledge to trust what conclusions we come up with. Also, because he use to be a tech guy he loves to hear the stories of how you fixed something and is one of the first to give you the atta boy. His greatest skill, though, is his ability to talk customers off the ledge. He is a true firefighter and believe me, he's gotten burned to save the engineers on a number of occasions.

Turgon

MrRyte wrote: »

And I can tell you from right now-IF I ever become an IT supervisor, I'd probably create more enemies than friends. I say this because I've seen some IT people act as if they're exempt from the corporate policy of dress code and conduct (coming to work in flip-flops and torn jeans; offering people assistance yet insulting with the inside "ID10T error" joke and quite a few other unprofessional infractions.....)

It's a throwback to the late nineties. A lot of IT types were unkempt. Then we got courted by management and money people who needed us to make a LOT of money. They wetted our beaks and made lots of allowances for our, shall we say, lacklustre presentation because IT became hip. We got cocky, overpaid and complacent. Then when they got what they wanted from us, the management ranks boomed and we got alienated again. We were isolated before 1995, we are isolated again. While I will always defend the IT brigade in the sense that we have the knowledge, a lot of IT professionals have just been plain dumb the last 10 years and are now marginalised or worse out of the industry and unemployable. When times are good, prosper, but keep one eye on the future, stay real and adjust.

Devilsbane

I don't think I've ever been boughten anything except for lunch here and there. But mine has been very supportive to whatever I want to do.

Zartanasaurus

If he ever asks if you like movies about Gladiators, quit.