He hardly needs promoting as his blog has consistently been one of the world's most widely read since its launch a couple of years ago (if memory serves me right), but Guy* Kawasaki keeps coming up with great content.
This time he gives tips on the Art of Avoiding an Asshole Boss. Having once worked for The Boss from Hell (I'm just about over it, six years on) this subject is close to my heart. Kawasaki doesn't go on a rant, which I tend to do if I talk about crap, bullying employers, but calmly sets out symptoms and solutions. It's good, practical stuff.
His post also drew my attention to the LinkedIn Reference Search tool (www.linkedin.com/rs). I'm a fan of LinkedIn. I choose to pay to be a premium member (well, my lovely current employer pays for me) and I get a lot out of it in terms of keeping in touch and contacting new people. I'm pleased to see Reid Hoffman and his gang finding innovative ways of mining the data that is held on the site.
I just tried a Reference Search on The Boss from Hell and found 146 people who could potentially tell someone what it's like to work for him. Narrowing it down to people who worked in the same office, I found five people. Knowing all of those people, I'm sure that if asked they would give an honest and not-too-flattering appraisal of TBfH (he has been promoted into a different company in the same industry). If only the tool existed six years ago!
*EDIT: corrected, thanks Graham /EDIT
Posted by dompannell at April 14, 2007 10:16 AMOoh, I'm slowly being pushed to actually do wommit with my linkedin thing. Can we link?
By the wya, I'll be in London mid-June. YOu around? And by the by the way, it's Guy, not Gazza.
Posted by: Graham at April 14, 2007 10:53 AMPS Dom. Your RSS is weird. I get some posts, but not all. Dunno why.
Posted by: Graham at April 14, 2007 1:15 PMI have been intrigued by the problem of how to avoid accepting a new job in a jerk-infested organization, and I think I've found an excellent and unique way to avoid this costly and painful problem.
I just finished developing a website called www.ebosswatch.com that allows people to rate their current or former boss so that people who are considering a job change can search for bosses at potential workplaces and can receive reports detailing the ratings that each boss has received.
Bob Sutton, author of the best-selling book The No Asshole Rule, has called eBossWatch "fantastic, a great idea." I hope this helps some of you avoid jerk-infested workplaces.
Posted by: Asher at June 18, 2007 1:54 PM