an environment where my boss states what the standard is, trains me to that standard, and holds me to it (not just lip service); let's it be known when I fall short that it's unacceptable, but recognizes and praises a job well done; a boss that I truly don't want to disappoint? YES, I look for that type of environment.
I've been in environments where they say all the right things, and it sounds like a great culture to work in; but in reality, they don't practice what they preach. Substandard employees are never disciplined, fired, or even re-trained; they just "lean harder" on the top producers and wear them down to the point they quit, or don't care (quit & stay?). Resulting in an entire team of substandard production, but no one seems to understand WHY.
Honestly, the 1st environment is kind of rare, while the 2nd environment is all too common. After moving on from the 2nd environment too many times over the past 40 years, I finally found the 1st and have been there for 25 years and counting. I expect to continue there until I am of retirement age, possibly even beyond that?
Lots of comments about "bully bosses" since my other post. I don't know where this is coming from....maybe folks interjecting THEIR experiences? My pee-wee coach was no "bully". He was "no nonsense". He was the first coach any of us had to state "what you are doing is unacceptable; and then SHOWING us how to do better." And when we did better, he was the first coach to say "attaboy, I KNEW you could do it." Maybe folks missed the part where I said we LOVED this coach. We feared him, because we didn't want to disappoint him or let down our teammates...no one wants to feel like that. But when you did fail, he didn't "pile on", he simply stated "you need to be better...here, let me show you something" which resulted in a tutoring session. Whether it was hand-placement and leverage for a lineman, or showing a RB how to stiff arm, or how to keep those legs CHURNING until you're on the ground....he TAUGHT. I'm not going to pretend I understand all of the dynamics in play back then, but I'd be willing to bet that the REAL issue was a black coach on a team of mostly white youth. That man was the BEST FB coach i had in 6 years of pee-wee football and I didn't care if he was purple....we were learning things we'd never been taught before, by a man who played football at the professional level (even if he never made the Redskins team), and we were having fun because we were competitive. There's a big difference between looking forward to playing the game to see how you'll do; versus going out there to take your lumps like a man, and get it over with, week after week.
So maybe other folks' experiences were different than mine. I can't dispute that. But don't attribute your experiences to MY coach. He was MY CSP and I was going to make sure I had the right cleats on for coach, and bring the Big Red gum (he was also a gum chewer, and team colors were Red & White, but he called us Big Red). People getting too caught up in the details and missing the forest because of the trees. A coach who inspired you to be the BEST you could be, gave you the tools to do it, made it clear that "now it's on you", and celebrated your victories with you. I'm not talking about W-L records...I'm talking about the individual games within a game. I'm 57 years old, and even though it's 45 years later, he is STILL the best coach I ever had (in ANY sport) and I STILL love that man!