Female bosses - what are your experiences of them?

[hunkermunker]

I haven't had a good one yet.

Please tell me there are some!

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I have had 9 bosses in proper jobs- 2 male, 8 female.
Got on with both the men and 5 of the women. Current one too early to tell. Remaining 2 women managers were v hard work but definitely don't think this was to do with gender per se.

was one a hermaphrodite scummy?

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lol Otter! doh. Strike me off the g and t list immediately. I meant 10 bosses...

In the latest set of overlapping restructures, my then line manager acquired a line manager who has actually been pretty good to me. I told my then male line manager that I was pg in October, and suggested that he should tell two other people then but keep it quiet until I was ready - another senior whom I now work for (or worked and will return to work for) and his own female line manager. Our more senior boss has been brilliant to me since she learned I was pg, of course there are legal requirements but she went well beyond them, no one gave me a hard time about time off for antenatal care or being late because I was throwing up at the time I should have been setting out, or because the tube was such a horrible prospect. I don't think boss's boss has her own babies but she's a committed aunt. I'm a secretary but it's an inhouse legal dept and a lot of female lawyers including some managers stay there because they have a little more flexibility than in private practice - maternity leave, flexitime, jobshare and other flexi working.

had one good one and the rest were dire!!

Agree with sitting bull-had 2 fantastic female bosses and a couple of so so ones. Also had 2 diabolical male ones and some good ones. Think its very much a personality thing - have learned to be wary now when looking at new jobs to check out who I'm working with/for as much as vice versa as it is very much a personality mix thing.

My present manager is female and about 10 years younger than me - and one of the best managers I've had in a long time.

I have had really good and really bad to be honest. But then I have had really good and really bad males bosses too. I don't think it has anything to do with gender.

I have also been a boss and found managing and motivating a fairly large team of different individuals and different needs really challenging. Although feedback was also OK, I would love to know what they REALLY thought.

best boss i ever had was a woman.

Really looked out for her staff rather than try to abuse power. Then had a string of arsehole male bosses after that.

one of my first ever employers was a woman and is still my mentor ...
i have worked for another woman (in my last job) and she totally did me over when it came to making me redundant when i came back from maternity leave - she reduced me to tears in a meeting with HR

Have only ever had female line managers - 2 were (are) absolutely brilliant; 1 was dreadful. Brilliant not just in relation to being part-time, having children, but across the gamut of the job. Dreadful one was dreadful with respect to everything inc part-time and children. Think it's a skill thing rather than a gender thing.

have only ever had female bosses and have been great. very understanding with regards to childcare difficulties, children being sick, etc etc. lots of empathy

my worst ever boss was female.

I've had one fantastic female boss and one that was just the Bitch Queen from Hell.

The great one was very young and attractive, fresh out of college and managed people perfectly to get the best out of them. She bent over backwards to get me to return to work after having DD, letting me pick and choose hours and conditions.

The other was about my age, had no partner, no children, no family other than parents who lived miles away, no life outside of work and was full of her own (perceived) importance. She was the reason I never went back to work after having DS.

One FANTASTIC regional managing director who basically institutionalised working from home for the company/flexible working practices. YES TO ANYTHING! But it meant we are loyal and come back to work after having kids. One horrible female boss with ISHOOS - funnily enough we're good friends now, it was just horrible working with her. Not because of kids or anything, she...just had ISHOOS! No worse than my current crazy (male) boss. Dangerous to generalise here.

Well, I used to be a nanny, so half my bosses were female.

Most were brilliant.

Some were crap.

One I wish I'd shoved headfirst into wet when I had the chance.

What have your male bosses been like?

I am a female boss, and would like to think that I am fair and generally easy to work for.( I have a team of anything between 40-60 working for me at any one time) In defence of myself I do sometimes feel that the team are almost waiting for me to muck up as i'm 'only a female' - I have only felt like this since I had 2 children in 14 months.
my own boss is presently a male and I probably find him easier to work for than my last boss who was my first and only female boss, who was very nice but a total career woman who had no idea of family life.