I have had previous supervisors in my chain-of-command (I’m in the military) that weren’t very personable, had questionable leadership skills, and basically alienated subordinates. This is very counterproductive behavior in an environment where teamwork is highly stressed and relied on from everyone in the workplace. I cannot see any practical benefits of a boss or supervisor being a jerk to his employees and degrading the morale and work ethics of others in the process. I am a Flight Sergeant and Squad Leader in my unit and I currently supervise 5 full time employees and am responsible for 9 traditional guardsmen one weekend every month. I make a concerted effort to touch base with all my subordinates whenever I can and I maintain a healthy level of communication with everyone I work with. I am fair but firm regarding discipline and I’m also receptive to all ideas and suggestions from my people. We have a great working relationship and it makes my job so much easier when things run smoothly which, fortunately for me, is most of the time. Simply put, a friendly but professional relationship between a boss and his employees is much more productive and harmonious than someone acting the jerk toward his subordinates which will always lead to headaches, loss of morale and work output, and general dissension in the work environment. At least this is what I’ve witnessed and experienced.