What is the first thing you look for when apply for a job?
We don’t always have the choice to pick and choose who we work for. Covid has certainly changed a few things in this regard. However, if you did have the choice, what would you look for when applying for an organisation or meeting a potential boss?
When I was younger, I just wanted to work, but the more experience you get with working with people, the more you start to understand what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’.
What Bad Looks Like
Ruling through fear is the worst thing that can happen. I worked for someone whose personality would change at a drop of a hat. The team would ask me each morning, what mood were they in that day. When that person was very, very nice, we were all on tender hooks, because we knew that they would do something particularly not nice to at least one of us that day.
That person would ring me up late at night, saying how rubbish I was at my job, they would slop left over coffee into individuals cups on their desks. This is unacceptable behaviour. I stood up for myself the next day after receiving multiple calls, to be balled out of their office. He was eventually told to leave the organisation after being particularly nasty to a senior manager.
This behaviour would be acceptable now, but I’m sure a lot of you will have experiences of someone who is in an authoritative role, using this to bolster their own position, at the expense of the people working for them.
Other people I have worked for have had complete disregard to the hard work their teams have put in, sometimes to the detriment of their personal life. Lack of communication in keeping them up to date, lying, not being transparent, taking credit for work they have not actually done, using team members for their own gain and promotion to name but a few.
These are just some examples of poor management/leadership in my life.
What Good Looks Like
The benefit of seeing what bad looks like, is enabling what good should look like.
I have also been lucky in my career to have exceptional leadership.
My experience is that they build an open and honest culture, create trust from both leadership within your teams and your teams with you. To be able to work flexibly with trust and even more so at these current times. To be able to speak up in a respectful way, with no recourse of being punished.
Leaders who create this culture, generally have an open-door policy, they ooze support and expect this from their teams as well as from them for their teams, they are empathetic and have compassion. They look to develop those that wish to be developed and actively push those team members where there is talent, giving them confidence to progress, whereby those individuals may not have done this themselves.
These leaders will also give gratitude and positive feedback, and constructive critical feedback, in order for them to improve. It will impact on the ethos of the teams who know if they work hard, not just around the results, but in communicating with each other, this will be noticed positively and not taken for granted. These leaders are also not afraid to show vulnerability and ask for help. A great boss will get to know you as an individual, as well as a team member. They lead with integrity, trust and celebrate the success of the team together in what they are achieving. The leader cannot achieve on their own, it is one concerted One Big Team effort.
The Organisation
Another factor is the organisation. Does it promote a culture of trust, openness and honesty? What are the organisation’s aims for their employees? Do they look at developing their teams and experience? Do they run a mentorship/coaching programme to support their employees in being the best they can be?
There are many factors when looking to join an organisation: –
- Flexible Working/Working Hours
- Do they offer any benefits?
- The Company Culture
- The Team you would be working in
- The buzz/passion of the team you would be working in
- The stability of the company – especially since Covid
- Opportunities for development/further education
- How they treat their customers
Take Control
Don’t forget, if you get an interview, you are interviewing them, as well as them interviewing you. If you know people in the organisation already working there, speak to them and ask for honest reviews.
If you feel they do not fit with your values and ethics, they will not be right for you and you will end up being unhappy. Be brave, make the calls to spend time with the team, get a feel for the team culture, as well as the organisation culture.
Also, if you get into a position of authority, in Simon Sinek’s words ‘Be the leader you wish you had’.
Reading Materials
Forbes – Richard Branson – 5 Billion Reasons to make your employees and candidates happy
Find the Right Job for you – LinkedIn
Top 5 Tips in Finding the Job you will Love – Balance Careers
Simon Sinek – Be the Leader you Wish You Had
Brene Brown – You Tube Dare to Lead Ted Talk
Brene Brown – Book – Dare to Lead
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