Recode co-founder Kara Swisher writes for Slate about the good and bad bosses she has had in her career.
Swisher writes, “After that, I had some great bosses at the Washington Post. I’ve mostly had male mentors and bosses, for some reason. There was Peter Behr, who gave me a chance when I wasn’t anybody. I remember a lot of women were on maternity leave and let me do their beats for them, which was a big deal. And David Ignatius, who was really good at inspiring people to want to do things for him. Same thing with Ben Bradlee, who would come over to me and be like, ‘What do ya got, kid?’ And I’d be like, ‘Whatever you want, sir!’ I wanted to write for those guys. I wanted to please them. And I’ve never been much of a man pleaser.
“Then I went to the Wall Street Journal where Paul Steiger hired me, and he was wonderful.
“But the most important mentor I’ve had was Walt Mossberg. He’s the one who got me to go to the Wall Street Journal from the Post. He believed in me the most. He gave me a million chances. He took me in when he was at maximum power and really used his firepower to show people who I was.
“Then I became a boss myself. When I started AllThingsD with Walt, I was the day-to-day boss of the site. I think people liked working for me. I think I was super straightforward and honest. I think I was probably too transparent in some cases. I’d say, ‘This is the mess we’re in, the Journal is driving us crazy, we hate Rupert.’ I wanted my employees to know what exactly was happening with the company, and I don’t necessarily think that’s always the best idea now.”
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