A lot of people contact me to ask if I can refer their resumes in my company and how is the team. Sometimes, they are joining a different team and they want to ask me about the company in general, its culture etc.
Most of the time, it surprises me that they forget to enquire about one very important question – ‘Tell me more about my new boss, how is he as a person/leader/manager and a team player”. I believe, this is equally important to find out initially as it may affect your future work life significantly.
It is important to realize the fact that many a times, the company or the job loyalty is determined by the people surrounding you and/or your immediate boss. Just imagine your boss being a person who will encourage you, motivate and lead you by example. He guides you in your initiatives and take responsibilities for the failures. Think how much more you will start loving your job and would be more likely to stick around and perform your best at the same time. On the other hand, imagine a boss who pesters you, bullies you, try to find mistakes in whatever you do and takes all credit to himself. In this scenario, in all likelihood, you would start looking for a new job internally or externally very soon.
Try to look around you and remember why your ex-colleague left his job or why your friend is desperate for a job change. You would find many of these people will attribute the reason to be a ‘bad’ (as per him) boss.
At the time of recruitment, your next boss might have found you as a suitable candidate to fit in his team and company but it is not always true that you would also think so after joining the job. It is simply because of subjective biases and the fact that both of you would have different parameters of judging things.
A company culture determines how its people would be but still, all of them are not equal and they would have different ‘styles’ of management. It is important to consider your ‘fit’ with your boss and your immediate team. When you ask people around about your next boss, do remember that their perspective might not necessarily be ‘your’ perspective, hence take things with a pinch of salt.