Thanks to Seth Godin and ExecPundit for sharing this insightful piece titled “Note from Boss to Employees.”  Some of the highlights:

1. I am sometimes under enormous pressure from upper management; pressure that you seldom see. Anything that you can do to make my job easier will be greatly appreciated.
2. Your interests are important, but please remember that I also have to juggle the concerns and feelings of a bunch of other people, including individuals outside of the department.
3. I may not have been given a huge amount of training before being named to a supervisory position. As a result, I’ve had to learn through trial and error. That's not always bad. Many of my responsibilities can only be learned through practice.
4. I will make mistakes. Please give me the same understanding that you’d like me to give you when you blunder.
5. I don’t like unpleasant surprises. Let me in on bad news as soon as possible.
6. I expect you to take initiative. If you keep bouncing things to me, I’m going to wonder why I have you around.
7. Let’s respect each other’s time. We each have a job to do and the more we can reduce unnecessary interruptions, the happier we'll each be.
8. If either of us has a problem with the other's performance, let's talk about it.

Now while I’m not suggesting that every supervisor whip out a pen and paper and start writing a treatise about their on-the-job trials and tribulations (after all, there is such a thing as too much information, and managers should maintain a certain level of professionalism with employees), I do appreciate the honesty here.  Managers so rarely communicate this way to their employees, and as a result, they seem remote and untouchable.  The point is that bosses are human beings too and are just as concerned about their careers as you are.  A recent post further illustrates what bosses love about their best employees, but in a nutshell, remember that your boss is someone’s direct report too, and if you want her to really value you, think of ways to solve her problems and make her look good to her boss.