I've had a manager who made it work. It was deliberately a running joke, it was one of a family of running jokes with similar delivery techniques, it was never

I've had a manager who made it work. It was deliberately a running joke, it was one of a family of running jokes with similar delivery techniques, it was never aimed at any new hires, and most of this manager's direct reports "fired" him as well, on a regular basis. It is reasonable to regard even this particular situation with caution, but I mention it anyway, to highlight the patterns that did make it work, that you can regard the absence of these patterns in your own situation.