Who's the Boss?

Everybody works for someone, so if you had your choice and you do, who would you work for? Is it the person you work for now? Is it someone else in the company or even another company? Are they the leader you have been looking for? Do you see yourself in that corner office?

For many people bosses come and go and generally make no difference but it’s the leaders we look to and would like to work with that could make a difference in our days. Leaders rather than a manager is the thinking often documented in employee surveys.

The old saying of “management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things” rings a bell for many people and is often cited as a reason for people moving and looking to another to inspire them.

For those of you who remember Tony Danza sparing with his big shoulder padded blonde bombshell of a boss in the 80s sitcom and enjoying every minute of it, it comes as no surprise to see surveys rating the people you would really like to work for being other than ordinary but familiar.

Adecco posed the question to find out what people thought of their boss and who among the famous would make ideal bosses.

Without specific criteria and business skills required it came as no surprise Oprah was the top choice to work for. Who wouldn’t want to work for Oprah when your chances of walking away with a car or trip to Australia high on the bonus list? Truth be known, her business acumen cannot be slighted in any way as $50 million a year would attest.

President Obama was a close second but I’m sure people have not thought about the daily grind of politics and the hard stuff, like peace in the Middle East or deciding on pushing the big red button. Way at the bottom of the list were people like Simon Cowell of Idol, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Tony Hayward of the BP oil spill, all bosses seen as self interested with no employee empathy. CEOs as a rule did not fare as well in the survey as people we were familiar with, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, who polled ahead of others like Jack Welch and his industry cohorts.

Seems people are still more interested in following the high profile boss to work for as long as they felt they knew them. So where does that leave your boss on the sliding scale of Oprah at the top and Simon at the bottom? Do you look to them for direction or avoid eye contact at all meetings? Do they inspire you or do you hardly notice them?

The option to choose your leader is yours alone. Make it for all the selfish reasons that will make your day worthwhile, everyday.