Female bosses - what are your experiences of them?

[hunkermunker]

I haven't had a good one yet.

Please tell me there are some!

mine were/are great! professionally sound and very understanding in re to childcare and absence due to child being ill etc!

I've only ever worked for one woman and she was the worst boss I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

She was a bully (two of her PAs took her to tribunals). She was technically weak and over compensated for this by always deriding the efforts of others. She knew everything and everyone else was wrong. The only opinion that mattered was hers and she listened to nobody else.

Her bosses moved her very quickly because so many people were leaving as a direct result of her behaviour.

My boss is female and wonderful. I've had dreadful female and male bosses in the past - I don't think you can really generalise with this one tbh.

I've had two - one great. one truly dreadful but the same could be said of my male bosses too.

Oh and I'm a fab boss...

once recruited someone who was pregnant and was going to take 6 months maternity leave becasue she was the best candidate [smug emoticon] and I was young and single and childless at the time...

I've had two female bosses and they were both a nightmare, but do agree its down to personality and skills. One of the women I worked for was on some kind of wierd power trip and totally abused her position, the other was a complete flake and unreliable, both down to their personalities rather than gender I think.

I have had a mixture and I think I got away with more with Male bosses. I think there deffo are differences. I have probably had more dreadful female bosses than male and I have been pushed to apply for promotion more by male bosses.

I think female bosses toe the line a bit more and are more observant of their own bosses. Men seem more cavalier which can be an advantage.

One good. Is now not my boss, but still my friend.
One evil, bullying incompetent - still around in my 'team' but not my boss anymore.
One - new...still awaiting judgement!

Male bosses
One jolly friendly if a little patrichian
One patronising, credit-taking, slopey shpuldred Blair-a-like.
One useless, couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, drop you as soon as you finish doing his work for him.

I'm sorry HM that your experiences seem to fall into gender categories. Maybe it's to do with what your line of work is? - so what sort of people end up being bosses in it?

I've been working for nearly 30 years now - all the way from Saturday fishmonger girl to lawyer person, and can honestly say I've only not got on with one boss (and he was male). Simple reason I didn't get on with him was: he (i) changed what he wanted without bothering to tell me and (ii) didn't do what he said he was going to do. Everybody else has been basically efficient, sensible, supportive - nothing earth-shattering, just altogether pleasantly trustworthy. What you want at work.

I shouldn't generalise - goes against the principles - BUT I suspect my very best working relationships have been with women (of that efficient/sensible/supportive type as above) - there has been a cheery mutual co-operativeness that you can be explicit about without feeling you are being wet. As in, "I knew you'd be busy this morning so I've just done this, hope helpful" kind of thing.

I'm midteam now, so a boss to some and I always remember the above. I think I just possibly get on better with my female delegates than the male ones (just because of the ability to be explicit about co-operation, as above) - but get on fine with both, I'd say.

Generally have found women more conscientious and organised than men. Not necessarily particularly nice though - often awfully pleased with themselves "Look at me I'm a woman and I've made it so I must be fantastically clever".

male are better at being bosses than female.

my male bosses have always been understanding, encouraging, if-you-have-a-problem-you-can-come-to-me type people.

female bosses have been domineering, condesending and i-have-so-little-time-for-you-because-i'm-very-important type people.

but that's just my experience!

I have had 3 female bosses (internet industry) and one male boss (it sector).
Two of the female bosses were quite good, one very bad. All three had favourism of certain staff in common, and recruited very much through personal preferences as opposed to qualifications and suitability to the job (f.ex, Ohh, her dad worked in Baghdad, so did mine, I like her, lets employ her. Or, ohh, she wears a Thomas Pink shirt, I love Pink shirts, think I will give her a go - these were from 2 different female bosses and I know as I was on the interview panel hiring my subordinates/co-workers) All three were temperamental and let personal ups and down influence their working days an their decisions, and would stomp around when boyfriend/husband trouble, period, and engage in chit chat when it suited them, about holidays in Seychelles, Pashminas, problems with cleaners, and just highly unprofessional. This was middle management, though I found the companies top female bosses a completely different calibre.