Tribal Leaders are talent magnets, with people so eager to work for the leader that they will take a pay cut if necessary.
Tribal Leadership:  Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright

———–

Ok, I’m ready to give the biggest and most important career advice I have ever given.  If you don’t own your own company, and you ever change jobs again, follow this advice.  There is nothing else this important.

Choose your boss well.

That’s it.  Because your boss means everything.  The wrong boss can be a disaster.  The right boss can shape your career for the better for the rest of your life.

So, what do you look for in a boss?  Mainly, you look for the qualities you want to learn and emulate when you will move up to your next position as the “boss.”  Here are some qualities to look for:

1.  Choose a good teacher.  If the boss wants to develop the talent  of those who report to hem/her, then the boss needs to be a good, effective teacher.  So, choose a boss who has much to teach you, and, knows how to teach you – is good at teaching.  This is important because you have much to learn, and someday you will have much to teach, and people to teach it to.

2.  Choose a good “carer.”  (“Carer” is probably not a word, but the idea is clear — choose a boss who cares for people – genuinely, deeply.   Because after all, a boss leads real people, and the ability to care for each person is really critical.  You need to develop this trait.  And it helps to learn from someone who is good at it.

3.  Choose a good team leader.  If a boss is good at building a team, then the future will be a lot better.  You need to be part of a team with a good leader, so that later you can be a good team leader yourself.

These are just a few of the traits to look for in your next boss.  There are probably a few more just as important as these, like: choose an ethical boss; choose a boss who cultivates an environment of fun; choose a boss who is a good coach as well as teacher…  You can add to this list.

But this I know for sure – choosing your boss well is really important.