This entry is my response to the following interview question, constrained to at most 2000 characters:
What are the qualities you most desire in a work environment and/or manager?
Passion is the quality I most desire in both my work environment and manager, because it drives hard work, promotes happiness, and inspires others to do their best. Reflecting upon my dance experience in college, going to practice was so enjoyable and productive because everyone was incredibly passionate about learning and helping each other. Much like dance practice, I see the work environment as a place where we can all eagerly partake in constructive learning as a team to optimize performance, and I see my manager as a leader whose passion and knowledge inspires everyone to keep moving forward.
The second quality I most desire in my work environment and manager is diversity. Suppose everyone in the work environment has the same set of skills and backgrounds: it would be difficult to learn new perspectives, make great products that require diverse expertise, and foster an environment for new employees to feel at home. Of course, the opposite is favorable. My manager must also be diverse because they will most likely be leading a diverse team, and to lead a diverse team one must have forged a diverse set of perspectives to be able to empathize with his or her employees. After all, how can my manager lead and relate with us as a team if he or she doesn’t even have enough glancing familiarity with us to imagine the world through our eyes?
Finally, the last quality I most desire is kindness. From experience, I know rudeness can slow down a team’s momentum at a frighteningly fast rate as discouragement and conflict begin to surface and camaraderie declines. A happy worker is a productive worker, and one of the best ways to foster happiness is to be friendly to each other. Therefore, I believe kindness is a key ingredient for both a healthy work environment and an effective manager.