What is it with most managers in ATC?
It's my belief that all the qualities which make for an excellent controller - the ability to make quick decisions, the ability to issue orders with an economy of verbiage, the ability to make less than sterling decisions work, the ability to form a plan and stick with it, etc. - these same qualities make for a lousy manager.
I contend that we get our managers from the wrong pool: burnt out or marginal controllers. We need to find other sources for our leadership (university trained managers, perhaps) and find other work for controllers who need to get away from traffic.