I'm of the opinion that all those qualities which make for an excellent controller -
the ability to make snap judgments
the ability to listen to what you need to hear and eliminate the rest
the ability to make solutions work, no matter how bad they are
the ability to communicate using the minimum amount of verbiage
the ability to emotionally distance oneself from what's going on around you
- all these qualities we admire in controllers, make for an absolutly terrible supervisor.
I used to find it frustrating that the people who tended to "rise" into supervisory positions were those who couldn't seperate the cheeks of ... well, you know the saying. As it happens, though, those people tended to be better supervisors, in most cases, than the hot-dog controllers who occasionally wormed their way into the woodwork.
In fact, I believe ATC would be better served by having a seperate "management career-track," apart from controllers. Hire MBAs, show them a bit about ATC, then let them use their skills to improve the profession.
ATCEA.com - it's good for you