My boss in my last-but-one job was great at saying no to people. She was also excellent at governance. My boss before that was great at delegating responsibility and developing her staff. My boss before that was great at negotiation.

I’ve just (today!) left a job with a crappy male boss and was discussing this issue with my sister a couple of weeks back. Basically, we concluded, that as women are socialised to be risk averse and ‘grateful’ (blech!) and not to ask for things unless they are 100% sure they deserve them (i.e. Women only apply for jobs where they can do EVERYTHING in the job description), the women applying for a job will often be better qualified than the men. Therefore the average female worked, at any level, is therefore better at their job than the average man. (Compounding this is the fact that women are held to a higher standard in the workplace, due to misogyny-based presumption of incompetence.)

In summary, my new and fascinating job includes a female boss and I am very happy about this.

My favorite supervisor was a partner, G, at my old firm. For awhile my practice group was super small: just me (the lowly associate), G, and the senior partner (SP). SP is a really nice, well-intentioned guy; he just isn’t a good manager…at all (I also truly believe he has adult ADD, which makes him extremely disorganized and makes his mind and mouth jump all over the place). More often than not I walked out of SP’s office having no clue what the hell I was expected to do on a particular project. It was scary enough being a new attorney. Adding a bad, very confusing manager to the mix made it downright terrifying. G had come up under the supervision of SP, too, and she immediately knew what I was dealing with. I cannot even fathom the number of hours (that she got no billable credit for) G spent explaining things to me, reading and editing my work before I submitted it to SP, giving me advice, and acting as a sounding board. She also made sure that the rest of the partnership learned of my successes and strengths, and was an umbrella of sorts, shielding me from those “partners you absolutely do not want to work with.” She was someone who was sincerely invested in helping me achieve my highest potential, and never showed even the barest hint of the professional jealousy or the backstabbing tendencies that I’d heard other women talk about seeing in some of their female bosses.

After many years of working together G and I got to the point where she’d also come to my office if she needed someone to bounce an idea off of, or give a motion she’d written the once over. And as our practice group grew, eventually it was my door that young associates were tapping on after they emerged from SP’s office looking dazed and confused. I gladly offered them my time, knowing how much G’s time had meant to me.

Telling G I was leaving the firm was really difficult and emotional. We both cried, but she understood and remains one of my biggest champions. In setting off on my own I lost a wonderful boss, but discovered that I’d made a true friend. For that I am very grateful.