We get asked all the time (you probably do too) what we look for when we’re hiring an addition to our team. There are a million ways to answer it, depending on your vertical, your company’s aspirations, the skill sets you’re hoping to add to the team. But it always comes back to one fundamental, must-have element for us – we look for someone who acts like a boss.
We know “boss” has a lot of varying connotations depending on your personal experiences (perhaps overlord, emperor, dictator, jerk…the list goes on). In our universe, we’ve disavowed those old attachments, and reclaimed the word for something else entirely. We work to give it meaning that’s driven by behaviors at every level, not just within the most senior team.
Acting like a boss means you do the work and give away the credit, you step up when you see a need, and you encourage, empower, and celebrate others to help them do the same. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first day as a junior staffer, or your 15th year on the job – and it definitely doesn’t matter what that title line on your business card says. Show up to your job (and more importantly, your life) with a little extra heart, a little extra humanity, and a few extra ounces of elbow grease, and you’ll be just the right kind of bossy. You might even get hired for it.