management question

[JeenLeen]

I'm considering applying for a management position where I work. Not 100% if I'd get it or want it, but if the pay increase is worth it, seems worth it.
I want one question on management style, about if you'd find something motivating or not.

In all the jobs I had, one thing I really appreciated in a boss was if they were willing to say "This is a stupid task, and we shouldn't have to do it, but we have to it. So get it done." or something to that effect. I wouldn't open with that, but if there's pushback about doing something new by the employees and lack of sense of why we're doing it, I think it's helpful to be honest and admit "yeah, this is dumb".
At least, I find that helps me as an employee. And it also boosts my respect for my boss since I feel like I can be honest and say, "Hey, this looks stupid" (perhaps with an "Am I understanding the request right? Because it seems useless what they want..."). So while I might not be motivated to accomplish the given task, I still feel good with the office setting as a whole and feel motivated to do a good job for the sake of a good job.
(I'm in government, so we do sometimes get stupid tasks assigned for political, bureaucratic, or person-wants-to-do-something-stupid-for-research reasons. I can't see how that might be less motivating in private industry where you might try to cut down on stupid stuff to make more profits. And I might be, unintentionally, exaggerating things a little bit for comedic effect, as I tend to do that while talking about work inanities in real life.)

In short: would you find it motivating if your manager/boss admitted that stupid projects were stupid?

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Feel free to post other management, or related 'motivating-folk', answers, too.