John Halamka recently posted this list of ideas on How to be a Great Boss. As always with John's posts, it's worth a read, but I can't help but wonder in going through it whether or not John has gone the pointy-hair route (photographic evidence to the contrary notwithstanding) somewhere along the line.

Consider, for instance, point 2, Embrace process. I'm a big fan of process myself, but isn't this one of the most common complaints one finds on Slashdot about PHBs? Process, rather than results, represents one of the great chains binding the IT staff genius today, preventing him from revolutionizing the department and running the entire company as he sees fit. Chaos is a more valuable quality in a supervisor, providing boundless entertainment and a lot of downtime for Counter-Strike LAN tournaments.

And number 9, Have boundless energy and enthusiasm. Really, I can't stand working for anyone these days (which is why I am self-employed: I still have a fool for a boss, but at least I can tell him to go stick it) but in the past, some of the bosses I have hated the most are those with the ra-ra and the go-team and the sunny disposition in the mornings. Honestly, any day of the week give me the cynical, unambitious boss who aims right for the center of mediocrity. He expects little of himself, and less of you... and that makes for a fine laid-back work week.

Number 7, Communicate consistently, is another thing I want my boss to avoid. Whatever it is, I don't want to hear about it. Leave me alone and let me work (or surf Slashdot, according to my mood).

Further to that, number 8, Delegate and trust, is taking things a little too far... I mean, certainly, I should be trusted, but leave the delegation at home, or better yet shift the whole mess over to the accounting department somehow. Or maybe that's what John meant, I hope.

I'll certainly keep reading John's blog, but I'm going to keep a close eye on that picture of him on the side for any suspicious horns coming up on the sides.
Photo by tastybit, used under Creative Commons licensing.