UO > Feature > Choose Your Boss Carefully

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Kevin, the job candidate at the pain center, overheard a clear signal that his boss might be a difficult person. According to Lubit, Kevin should have tried to determine whether the outburst was “state or trait.” In other words, was demeaning the staff-person in the hall the result of a particular situation—or state—such as an especially stressful day, as the office manager said, or was it part of the medical director’s personality—or trait. Since Kevin didn’t ask any follow-up questions, was he out of luck?

The fact is, Kevin could have taken steps after the interview to assess the potential toxicity of his boss. Most simply, he could have talked to the people who have direct knowledge of the medical director’s management style and personality—the other employees. Who better to talk to than people who have had long exposure to the boss and have seen him react in a wide variety of situations? In addition to the snapshot Kevin got during his interview, other employees could have given him more of a narrative. And that’s what you want. Anyone could have an occasional outburst or make a bad decision, but if you discover that your future boss is starring in his own horror movie, you don’t want to be in that show.

Opinions vary, however, as to whether to ask existing employees about their employer. Wynett says that interviewing current employees would be “an invasion of their privacy” but says that if “you can gain access to previous employees . . . it would be perfectly okay to chat them up over the working environment” you’re considering joining. If you are considering a large practice or hospital, or a position in a corporation, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone who has worked with your future boss in some capacity. It could be well worth the time to make some inquiries.

Joan* was a resident at an East Coast rehabilitation hospital. The more time she spent at the hospital, the more sure she was that “the culture” at the hospital was a problem. By the time she was a third-year resident, she understood that the problems with the culture started at the top and that the president of the hospital was a toxic boss who “infected the entire atmosphere of the hospital.”

She says the president would stand at an overpass between the parking lot and the hospital and record the times that the doctors arrived and then report these times at staff meetings and berate those who were late. Frequently he brought his two dogs to staff meetings. According to Joan, he was abrasive and overbearing to all the doctors and the staff and did not have a good working relationship with anyone.

Unfortunately, the attending doctors all suffered because of the president’s caustic style. “They were scared of him and would literally panic if something went wrong,” she says. She remembers one incident in which she called an attending regarding a problem with a patient but the attending’s orders were not helpful. During M&M rounds, so fearful was the attending about the possible ramifications of her mistake that she lied about Joan having called her. The attending later wrote a letter to Joan apologizing for her behavior but that she was too afraid of the hospital president to tell the truth.

When the hospital approached Joan about an attending position, she didn’t hesitate to decline because she knew this was not a place that she could be happy and have a good practice.

Over the years, Joan says she has shared her experience with other doctors considering attending positions at that particular hospital. These doctors found her the same way you can find a previous employee from where you are considering working—networking with your colleagues. Ask if anyone knows someone who worked at such and such hospital, and you might be surprised at how small the world is. Of course, not everyone will be willing to talk but it’s worth an effort.

This can be a more challenging endeavor if you’re looking at a small practice like Kevin was, but in that case, consider broadening your search and speaking not only with doctors and nurses but administrative staff. It’s likely that they can all contribute to your understanding of what type of atmosphere you would encounter.

Johnson, the CEO of Women for Hire, says even doing an Internet search on the potential boss might be valuable. If you are considering a somewhat larger practice, hospital, etc., you might even find that there is a company chat room on the Internet. Johnson gives the example of Carla Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who was forced out after a series of layoffs at the company and a difficult merger with Compaq. A Hewlett-Packard chat site indicated that the company morale was “really bad and getting worse” before Fiorina was forced out.

Obviously, not all of the positions you might be considering will be at companies like Hewlett-Packard, and you may not find a chat site that can help you. The point is that the Internet can be a rich source of information.

An important caveat to keep in mind whenever you talk to (or read comments from) a current or former employee is that this person may have an axe to grind even if he was treated fairly by the boss. Unless you know something about the source, it’s probably best not to rely solely on the opinions of one person.

What if your boss is just a master of disguise or you get a new boss at the job you already have? Are your only options to quit or wait to get fired?

Grace* took her first job out of a pediatric residency at a clinic-based large group practice in Northern California. Nothing about the interviews set off any alarms and she felt comfortable with the doctors with whom she would be working most closely. Soon after she started, however, she ran into some problems with the doctor who was in charge of all the pediatricians in the group and was a high-ranking administrator in the practice.

The first sign that things would not go swimmingly was when this administrator forced Grace to switch her day off to accommodate his personal schedule. Grace chalked it up to being the new kid on the block, but over time she saw that this administrator was autocratic in almost all of his dealings with the pediatricians. At meetings, he would announce an initiative, refute any criticism other doctors raised, and implement exactly what he had said he was going to do. While Grace describes this administrator as being a very engaging, socially adept person, he was an excessively rigid boss and morale began to suffer because of it.

Fortunately for Grace and her colleagues, every year the physicians in the group were asked to rate their administrators on a confidential basis. Over the course of several years, the pediatricians’ complaints about this administrator and the overall low morale of the doctors and staff forced the larger group to bring in an outside consultant to evaluate this administrator’s effectiveness. He stepped down months later.

Quitting isn’t the only option; sometimes the boss can be the one to leave. Just realize that the boss probably has some particular skill or brings some value to the job (which explains why he is the boss in the first place) and it may take some time to build a record which shows that the negative effects of his temperament outweigh his strengths. Of course, if the boss also owns the place, there may not be much you can do, and leaving might be best.

If you do leave, even if it’s because your boss has been a holy terror and you loathe his very existence, be professional. Give your boss and colleagues plenty of notice, write a diplomatic letter of resignation (no need for a lengthy explanation), and don’t badmouth the job after you’re gone. Just as you might make some calls about a new boss, your next boss will likely do the same. The medical world may be smaller than you think, and you never know whose path you may cross in the future.

Finally, if you do leave, here’s hoping you take steps to find the workplace angel you deserve. g

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