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  • CAREER PLANNING 2019
  • Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year from the team at Pohlen Partners
  • 2018 Market Intelligence
  • Managing Skills-Short functions
  • Talent Intelligence 2018
  • New CV service for Executives and Leaders
  • Career Services Global Conference provides insight on the Digital Future
  • Career Management Intelligence 2018
  • Leaders forum: Optimising trans-Tasman Business Relationships
  • Recruiting Intelligence 2018
  • Is outplacement the new must have employee benefit?
  • Waste Management wins prestigious Skills Highway Award at Diversity Awards NZ 2017
  • Retaining Competitive Edge in the Workplace of the Future
  • Is your performance management system effective ?
  • Beatrice Roets joins us to strengthen resources in our Executive Recruitment Team
  • Career Services Global Conference provides insight on the Future of Work
  • Performance Management Systems - are yours relevant?
  • Overcoming anxiety in Psychometric Assessments
  • Dear Candidate....... you are important to us
  • Poor Interviews Hurt Companies
  • Rejuvenating your career plan in 2017?
  • A year in review - 2016
  • Challenge current hiring practices to reflect the employment market
  • Candidate Experience Forum & Survey Results
  • Your Talent Strategy - Balancing the Human Factor with Technology
  • Optimising Contract and Temporary Resource
  • Paula Bennett captivates at recent Business Leaders Forum
  • Evaluating Employment Market Contradictions
  • Strategies for overcoming talent shortages in NZ
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  • Market Insight Update
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  • Customer Experience needs to be reflected in recruitment strategy
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  • Top Marketers share Big Data knowledge at our recent event
  • Market Insight Update
  • Milmeq wins Auckland’s ‘Best of the Best’ Supreme Business Excellence Award
  • Pohlen Partners hosts a Customer Experience Forum
  • How current are your recruitment and talent strategies ?
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  • Market Insight Update
  • Watch Emma Gordon highlight the five key attributes of a good temporary employee
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  • In this video Odette Shearer shares key insights for aspiring marketing candidates
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  • View Robyn Webb as she shares some trends evident within the HR portfolio
  • Pohlen Partners presents at the HR Analytics and Workforce Intelligence Conference
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  • The NZ Employment Market
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  • The Year in Employment
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  • The Win-Win Approach to Employment Contracts (Part One)
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  • Are You Still Using a One Dimensional Approach?
  • Good Bosses Are Hard to Find: Here's How
  • Looking for Work? Keep a Diary
  • 'Seal the Deal' in Job Interviews

Good Bosses Are Hard to Find: Here's How

Published by Laurence Stybel, Ed.D., C.M.F. in Platform for Success.

Click here to view the article on Psychology Today


 Everyone wants to work for a "good boss." How do you know when you are in the presence of one?

The first is to define the term "good boss." And the second is to ask the right questions to confirm that this person indeed meets your definition.

Here is my definition of a "good" boss: power and decency.

Actual Power is defined as the ability to make things happen. The person is in the right place in the organizational hierarchy. The person has budgetary discretion. Potential Power is defined as
someone who is perceived as on a fast track to get Actual Power. In other words, a rising star.

Hitch your wagon to powerful boss' star and you move up as the boss moves up. Work for a boss whose career has plateaued or is perceived as a setting star and you will be chagrined to find out that your mother's advice to you as an adolescent was correct: You are known by the company you keep.

Questions to Ask

How can you find out if a potential boss has Actual or Potential Power? Ask people who work in the company the following question: "Name the three most powerful people in this company (section) and why are they powerful." Does your potential boss' name come up? Go to linkedin.com and see if you can track down former employees. Ask them the same question.

Decency is defined as someone who is guided by moral or ethical standards. Few of us get to meet saints in our lives. We all compromise. But a decent boss compromises those standards with great internal pain.

Wouldn't you rather work for a decent boss?

Questions to Ask

When sitting with a prospective boss, ask, "If I spoke with your direct reports what would they say about you?"

You hope the prospective boss will smile and say, "Good question. Why don't you speak with them? I will set it up for you." A positive response like that is your best guarantee that the person is going to have a decent value system.

But suppose the potential boss says, "I am sure they will say I am firm but fair..." and fails to set up the meetings for you. That's a bad sign.

Suppose the potential boss looks angry and changes the subject. You probably lost out on an opportunity to work under a boss that you would not want to work for.


I Want to Work for a "Good" Boss

We all want to work for good bosses.

Good bosses are hard to find. And they are worth searching for.

Never quit a job to work for a boss who fails to meet our definition: Your reputation will be determined by what you do and who you do it for.

CAREER PLANNING 2019


Thinking about your career goals for the year? Contact us to explore... more

Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year from the team at Pohlen Partners

We value your contribution to our business and look forward to working... more

2018 Market Intelligence

Contributing to our customers’ commercial goals and individual careers,
insights are provided... more

Managing Skills-Short functions

Manufacturers are meeting talent needs through sustainable attraction and retention tactics
Pohlen... more

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