Good Boss, Bad Boss
Part 1
Over decades of work experience I’ve had both. Mostly the latter.
First job ever I was 14 years old working as a cook in a fast food fried chicken joint.
I had a good boss. The positive memory resonates because I was a good worker, quickly learning the technique of snapping the bone (so the thicker thigh would cook evenly) of a raw piece of dark meat and plunging it into a vat of seasoned flour. Arranging the breaded, uncooked bird it on a 3-tier rack and operating the hydraulic mechanism to lower the food into a deep pressure fryer. Set the timer for 12 minutes. Carefully, to avoid hot oil splash, raise the freshly cooked food and arrange golden wings, breasts, drumsticks and thighs on racks. Slide the trays into the warmer, ready for hungry customers.
http://realjobstories.com/2017/08/06/i-was-a-teenage-fried-chicken-cook/
Mastering the skill of prepping and cooking fried chicken earned me praise. I remember overhearing, for my benefit, the boss tell the assistant manager “That M____ is a good worker. Put him on for Saturday night.” After that, on several occasions my boss made a point of thanking me and laying on work performance compliments.
Saturday was busy, lots of chicken going out the door, but I felt good. I had been recognized for my aptitude and work ethic. A good boss understand this message and uses it to build loyal employees. So, I worked hard, was proud of professional propensity and pleased to be appreciated.
Genuine praise is a small gesture that travels far.
I was an adolescent who looked up to the adults around me. That included the manager, a guy in his mid-twenties who drove a Corvette and was married to a gorgeous brunette who was a senior in high school when I was a measly freshman. The good graces of a mysterious grown-up was a bonus because this was a rather nasty, stinky job.
This digression leads back to the “good boss” effect.
When the manager praised my work it was a pleasant feeling. When the human brain experiences pleasure the hormone and neurotransmitter Dopamine is released. The brain wants to repeat that happy experience. Dopamine is a motivator. Maybe you have a memory of a positive interaction years ago that resonated in a happy way. Your brain liked that hit of satisfying dope.
On the other side of the neurotransmitter coin is Dopamine’s bad relation, Cortisol. Cortisol, that primary stress hormone that controls fight or flight. Prolonged exposure to high levels of cortisol can lead to unhealthy symptoms including irritability and depression.
If my manager had been a dick, scolding and critical, cortisol would have been raging in my young brain causing anxiety and something like fear. No good and certainly not conducive to a quality level of work. I imagine that the manager knew that fried chicken cook was an unpleasant job. The least he could do was boost his employees morale. He never considered neurology, not that there was, 40 years ago, much awareness on how the human brain actually worked. But, it cost nothing to be patient, encourage and in general come across as a nice guy.
There it is. Being a good boss is not rocket science. To achieve a high level of employee satisfaction and production a smart manager / boss / admin works the variables of how the brain functions.
Before becoming a public-school teacher I had many jobs at the pre-professional level like waiter, hotel bartender, bike messenger and house painter. Their names are mostly forgotten but I can still see the faces and hear the tone of voice of past managers, positive and negative, and clearly recall if they were cool or real dickheads.
Of course humans are not simplistic and there is a wide spectrum between the extremes of great boss and shitty boss. All humans have their moments when they impersonate individuals closer to the extremes between affable and atrocious.
I found great satisfaction in the education profession. In my years in teaching I’ve worked with kindergarten to eighth grade kids. I’ve taught Spanish, Literacy, STEM, Math and much more. Last year I was the PE teacher in a K-5 school. Throughout the years working with students provided much personal and professional fulfillment. I became the “boss”, the authority figure. Experience taught me that students, even more so, were looking for positive reinforcement from teachers. They craved the happy neurotransmitters that helped guide them to achieve.
In education, nuances of management become much more acute. Teachers ain’t cranking out widgets. They have many intangibles, variables they cannot control, family situations, gifted students, kids with learning disabilities, lack of adequate planning time, good and bad curriculums … the extensive gray areas of teaching is a topic for another piece.
Teachers deal with much uncertainty. From their strong desire to serve their students well they suffer much anxiety and guilt. Cortisol can literally creep into their cerebral system impacting their happiness and mental and physical health.
This where a good school administrator can support teachers. Good admins understand that teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. Clear communication, pleasant persona, not being threatened by disagreement, giving constructive feedback are a few of the characteristics of a good admin. Also, understanding that a faculty is a team with a common mission, not a family. Families see each other subjectively. Teams members, objectively. Team members have a designated role.
More digression and an onion to be further unpeeled.
Over the years I’ve had decent principals. So many unfortunately, have been sorely lacking in a basic understanding in how to sustain their staff. The behaviors, words and actions I have seen from admins, you can’t make that shit up. I’ve seen good admins make school a wonderful place and horrible admins make teacher’s lives, no exaggeration, a living hell.
Everyone has amazing work stories. Good boss and bad boss stories are a part everyone’s employment history.
Me, I’m entering the reflection stage of unraveling my career.