I Wish I Could Ask the Boss...about the Boss

The other day I was sitting with a group of job seekers when someone expressed, "I wish you could find out in a job interview what the boss is going to be like."

The real question, "Am I going to be working for a bad boss?

All the word-of-mouth about a great culture is helpful, but even in great cultures, bad bosses creep in. And all the ping pong tables, bring-your-lemur-to-work-days, and free soda doesn't fix a bad boss. Nothing fixes a bad boss.

The boss makes YOUR culture, regardless of what the company's stated culture is supposed to be about.

It's no secret and no surprise that in an interview situation everyone involved is trying to show their best self. Clearly, you the applicant are trying to shine, but the hiring manager is doing the same. It only feels like a one-sided inquisition.

Most people's greatest workplace fear is getting a bad boss. I mean, that's the main reason people leave jobs. It's generally more specific than that. For example, you may feel unappreciated, like what you do doesn't matter. You may not understand what's expected of you, or how what you do fits in with the mission of the organization. Maybe you have no opportunities to learn and grow, or to do what you do best. But all of those things are about having a bad boss, because those things don't come up with good bosses.

Bad bosses are the reason people quit their jobs.

So if you're looking for a new job, and you're interviewing, how can you know what you're getting?

You can't, right?

Yeah, you can.

Look, the interview isn't a one-sided inquisition and defense of everything you've ever done at work. If it feels that way, you're off on the wrong foot already and it will probably go badly for you.

Change your mindset. This is a two-way interview. It's a conversation in which you both - you and your prospective boss - get to determine whether or not you'll both be a good fit for each other, the job, and the organization.

"But," you say, "they ask all the questions." And you're left with, "When do you expect to make a decision?"

Nope. Not true.

You should ask whatever you want so that you can determine if this job (boss) is going to be a good fit for you too.

So formulate your questions of the things that matter most.

If you still don't know what to ask, here are some questions I've come up with based on the 12 most important elements of employee engagement as determined by the Gallup organization - the guys who do all the opinion research and scientific studies. They know more about employee engagement than any organization in the world.

Here are some sample questions you can ask in your next interview. These are based on the most important elements to people of all generations, throughout the world, in all industries and occupations. Yeah, so these will probably work for you too.

Here they are:

1. What are the specific expectations of this job, and how will you let me that know I’m meeting those objectives?
2. What are the main tools, applications, and equipment I'll need to use to do this job? For the tools specific to this job, how will I be trained to use them?
3. I feel like my greatest talents are x, y, and z. What proportion of time will I get to do that in this role?
4. Tell me about your philosophy with regard to recognition and praise for people on your team?
5. What's your process for building a rapport with the people who report to you?
6. Tell me your greatest employee development success story.?
7. What's your process for finding out the opinions of your direct reports? What do you do with the information you learn?
8. How does this job, to which I'm applying relate to the mission and vision of the organization?
9. Are the current members of the team committed to doing a great job? How do you know?
10. What do you do to foster relationships of trust and friendship among the team?
11. How often do you talk to employees about their progress? What does that process look like??
12. What's your greatest success story of an employee who got to learn and grow in the past year?

How that prospective boss answers these questions will tell you a lot about what kind of boss they are, and whether or not you will even be able to be engaged on the job.

You probably don't need to ask all of these. Some will be more important to you than others. You might come up with better ones, but those are some to get you off on the right foot with your new boss.

If you want to know more about what a certain response will tell you or what these questions are aimed at telling you, shoot me a message here or at [email protected]. I'm happy to help in any way I can.

Ryan Houmand?is a coach and the author of "A Passion for Monday". Ryan is a manager, developer and coach of people who helps them understand how to "Play to their Strengths". He has appeared on NBC, FOX and CBS?to talk about the "3 Mistakes That Make People Hate Monday" and the formula to change it. You can reach Ryan directly at Ryan@LoveMondayLike Friday.com. Really, he'd love to hear from you.