I've had some great bosses and some awful bosses. One of my favorites was the dev manager for a team doing web application development at a large company. I w

I've had some great bosses and some awful bosses. One of my favorites was the dev manager for a team doing web application development at a large company. I was the tech lead for the team. His opinion was that a good team manager was much like the manager of a band. It was his job to run interference for us with the suits (corporate business types or label execs/concert promoters), get us what we needed in order to take care of business (time, software, hardware or instruments and a van), help with high level scheduling (releases or tour dates), and stay out of our way. If we didn't do our job (coding or practicing) then we weren't suited for the team, and would be let go. It was a great approach imho. Wouldn't work so well for folks who NEED to be micromanaged, but if you're running a team of A list folks you just need to get them what they need and stay out of the way.