Leadership author Robyn L Garrett says that one clear requirement many employees nowadays have for their bosses is emotional maturity. "We're done with bosses that yell, whine, and play mind games. A good boss needs to be able to manage themselves and focus on true leadership," she says.

Gen Z and Millennials also want to feel respected at work. "Younger generations expect a more respectful and responsible workplace. Norms have changed a lot in the last 20 years and they'll continue to make the workplace more inclusive and less stressful. That's something that benefits everyone, regardless of age," Garrett notes.

Still, being a good boss doesn't mean you're everybody's friend. "It's more important that bosses are respectful of employee boundaries than it is for them to build personal connections," Garrett believes. "If an employee prefers not to mix their work and home lives, that is a perfectly reasonable choice. The boss's job is to build a healthy work environment so that people can do their best possible work," she explains.

In that same Pew survey, people also revealed the traits that, according to them, their good bosses have. The employees said their bosses are very good at giving their employees flexibility on work-life balance, giving the employees credit when it's due, and staying calm under pressure.

The gender of the boss doesn't matter to employees. Most are likely to say that their boss is good regardless of whether they're a man or a woman. They are, however, more likely to describe their boss as "caring" and more likely to give the employees credit. 

When asked whether they would like to work more for a man or a woman, a bigger percentage (15% vs. 12%) veered towards having males as bosses. What's also interesting is that men prefer that their boss be male, while females prefer their bosses to be women. 

For women under 30 that seems to be particularly important, as one in ten of such respondents said they'd prefer if their boss was a woman. For other age groups of women and men, the percentages were much lower, under 20%.

What makes a good boss? Why are some loved and others hated? The truth is that many people who become bosses don't have the skills to be good leaders. As organizational development consultant and author of Work Jerks Louise Carnachan told us in a previous interview, most employees become bosses because they've worked at that place long enough or were very good at their jobs.

However, being good at your job doesn't always translate into being a good boss. As Carnachan told us previously, leading others is a completely different job, and many people thrown into the position of a boss can lack that competence. "Unless you've had a role model to follow, you're probably at sea about what to do," Carnachan noted.

"Leadership training and coaching can help immensely, but not every organization makes this available," Carnachan explained. However, new bosses can become good leaders by educating themselves, too. "There are many good books and leadership classes you can take on your own or through your professional organization," according to Carnachan.

Back then, Carnachan also told us that most employees say they have a good boss when they have similar characteristics, even if their personalities are completely different. "The commonalities of great leaders are that they ask questions, listen, know something about their direct reports' lives (as in what's important to them, not by being intrusively personal)," Carnachan told us last year.

Just as listed in the Pew survey, a good boss, according to Carnachan, also gives feedback on an employee's performance, sets clear goals and direction, has high expectations for themselves and their team, doesn't shy away from difficult conversations, and isn't afraid to admit when they've made mistakes. "These are people who are not only respected, they often are role models for future leaders," Carnachan explained.

A good boss also needs to constantly ask themselves: "Am I a good boss?" As Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback write for the Harvard Business Review, "as they settle in and lose their fear of imminent failure, they often grow complacent. Every organization has its ways of doing things—policies, standard practices, and unspoken guidelines, such as 'promote by seniority' and 'avoid conflict.' Once they're learned, managers often use them to get by—to 'manage' in the worst sense of the word."

A good boss also faces conflict head-on, although most tend to avoid it. "'I hate company politics!' they say. 'Just let me do my job,'" Hill and Lineback write. "But effective managers know they cannot turn away. Instead, with integrity and for good ends, they proactively engage the organization to create the conditions for their success."

Who wouldn't wish to have a boss like the ones on this list? What about you, Pandas, what's your relationship with your boss like? Let us know some feel-good, wholesome boss stories in the comments! And if you're looking for something similar to this list, check out our two previous articles in this series here and here!