Inc magazine (online) just published an article quantifying the costs of bad bosses and the horrifying number of them out there. Three out of four employees report that their boss is the worst part of their job. 65% say they would take a new boss over a pay raise. 
It takes an average of 22 months to recover from a bad boss. 30% slow down due to a bad boss. There is much more in the concentrated article. I recommend you go see The Real Productivity-Killer: Jerks(and it is worth waiting through their brief advertisement).
It is totally consistent with my personal experience and observations. With the exception of Hewlett Packard while Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard were still running it and my 20+ years of self-emmployment, I have not worked for a well managed organization and have not had good bosses. I have had MANY poor ones and a frightening percentage of awful ones.
Doing nothing more complicated than keeping in mind The Objectives of each job, and treating my subordinates with honor and respect, I have had a large number of them tell me I’m the best boss they ever had.
Some of this just comes natural. Some of it can be taught. Some of it is structural and can be designed into an organization. There is no question in my mind that I can help and improve the situation if my observations, tools and organizational changes are applied.
