Choose Your Boss, Not Your Job

Quite possibly the best advice I’ve ever heard about selecting your next career is to pick your boss, not the job.

This is challenging because the process we use to find meaningful work is designed to work the opposite way; the boss picks you. More often than not, you only talk to your boss during the interview process, which is a poor predictor of what he/she will actually be like. By focusing on who your boss will be above most other criteria (e.g. total compensation, responsibility, advancement opportunities, location) changes how you pursue jobs and how happy you’ll be once you select one.

According to a recent Forbes article, more than 2 million people are quitting their jobs each month. More than 74% of people would consider finding a new job. And, 32% are actively looking for their next opportunity. From a high level:

• A good boss in a mediocre company will protect you and support you.

• A bad boss in a good company will frustrate and demoralize you.

• A good boss in a good company will unlock your potential.

1. First and foremost, understand yourself. Have you established your personal intention? If so, what is your ambition statement (what you need to achieve in the next 3 – 5 years)? By determining a clear path for what you want to achieve, you can conduct a gap analysis of your skills and better determine how a particular boss can coach and mentor you to your goals.                                                                                                       

 

2. Secondly, picking a tremendous boss demands that you have a strong network. By cultivating relationships with professionals in your field, you can share notes on the bosses you’ve worked for or heard about. This does take time and research, but knowing who the good managers are and seeking them out is probably the best predictor of a prosperous career.  

 

3. Last, conduct informational interviews with the potential bosses before you actually have the chance to work with them. By treating him or her to coffee or lunch, learning more about what makes him or her tick, you can establish a rapport and see how you can generate value for him or her. You will also learn how the person may be able to support you as you achieve your life’s intent.

Calling shots is not their dream: In fact remarkable bosses don’t care about control. They help others to achieve their objectives.

1.      Facilitates learning: “It's easy for a boss to debrief an employee and turn a teachable moment into a lesson learned. It's a lot harder to let employees learn their own lessons, even though the lessons we learn on our own are the lessons we remember forever.” says Jeff Haden.
 
2.      Welcomes ideas from employees: Remarkable bosses don’t force you to do a task the way they want it done. They will give you the autonomy, and let the employee go in with their eyes wide open. They see the potential within employees and know the ways in which they can bring out the best in employees.
 
3.      They don’t seek credit: There have been many instances in my first job, where the overseas managers were upset with certain project deliverables, but, our boss supported our team. He knew that to do otherwise undermine the employee's credibility and possibly authority. And he never seeks credit for standing up for you, and doesn’t say anything, because he knows it is the right thing to do.
4.      They believe in their employees: When an employee makes a mistake, it is easy for a boss to avoid giving similar work to that employee. But one mistake, or one weakness, is just one part of the whole person. Remarkable bosses on the other hand help the employee get over their weaknesses and help them get through the tough times. They forgive, they forget, but, they maintain the belief on their employees.

Great bosses act as inspiration for their employees to achieve company goals, at the same time they help the employees achieve their personal goals.

1. Start out by asking about a past project or accomplishment in detail. Get into specifics. Instead of hearing responses like, “I believe in delegating to my people,” you’ll want to get to, “We had a weekly meeting on the project, and people came to me between meetings with something they wanted my help with…” Make it a point to find out what the manager did, not just what she read in the latest issue in the last meeting and how was it sorted out, strategies applied?. This way you’ll begin to understand how she actually conducts business in practice, and whether or not that’s a culture you want to be a part of.

2. Ask about customers or colleagues. A good starting point is, “Can you give me an example of a typical customer, and what they are like?” Not only do you want to know what the customers are like, but also the manager’s attitude toward customers. If you are great with customers and your manager doesn’t respect them, your manager probably won’t like you. And if you treat customers the way your manager does — i.e., without respect — your customers won’t like you either.

 

Traits of a good boss: drives retention, delegates authority, trustworthy, is a servant / transformational leader, interested in doing what’s right, consistent in decision-making, and is empathetic.

Traits of a bad boss: drives turnover, micromanages others and processes, instills fear, authoritarian leader, interested in being right, inconsistent in decision-making, and is cold/self-focused.

So, how do you find a good boss? 

As I think back over my career, the single biggest determinant of whether I was happy, productive, developing or duly rewarded was my boss at the time. As Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Do yourself a favour; search for jobs with purpose and choose your boss before your title or company.

The career and life of your dreams will evolve organically from there.

So what are the characteristics a remarkable boss has?

These are few characteristics I have seen among remarkable bosses I have worked with.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and any characteristics you have come across.

To make an informed judgment about your potential boss, it’s important to ask the right questions during the interview:

Even before the Q&A section of the interview, look for repeated patterns of unconscious behaviour. This will help you predict future behaviour.

Notice how the interviewer is saying things, not just what he is saying. Does he spend a lot of time talking about himself?

Does he often use the word “I,” and never use “we” to describe his department? You can expect that manager to be pretty self-focused. Or, does the manager talk about “the team” and compliment or refer to others on the team?

If you are a team-oriented person, you probably will have an easier time working for the second manager, regardless of what the job is.

Listen carefully during the interview.

·         Does the manager grill you?
·         Challenge your answers?
·         Not let you get a word in edgewise?
·         You can expect that to continue on the job. Or, does the manager welcome you?
·         Show you around?
·         Give you a chance to present yourself?

You can expect that in the future, too.