An incident during my school days may go some way to explain why I was so receptive to the idea that it could be a good thing for a manager to be a bad influence. 

I did two A levels, unlike most of my fellow students who were studying for three A levels. As a result I had a lot more free periods. Four days a week I had the first two periods after lunch free. I was entitle to free school dinners but was too embarrassed to take them instead I went home for a coffee and a sandwich. There was no one at home during the day so I had the place to myself. The walk to school was a good 25 minutes each way so it would have been impossible to get there and back in my lunch hour. But I didn’t need to, my free periods gave me an extra hour. The school didn’t see it this way. As far as they were concerned I failed to turn up to afternoon registration so I was late, however not absent since I turned up to all my lessons. My end of year report, the basis for university and employment references, recoded my 100% attendance but set a new school record for lateness.