Find your tribe with JobsWithNoBoss.
The easiest way to find and promote career opportunities in bossless organizations from all over the world.
boss
/bɒs/
/bɒs/
We asked our good friend Lisa Gill to share her thoughts on what that word means, in case you are not sure if there are bosses in your organization:
There are different definitions of the word 'boss'., but what we generally mean is anyone who has power OVER you and who has inherited that power from a top-down, fixed hierarchical structure.
To be clear, a bossless company doesn't mean there is no structure, no leadership and no authority. The difference is, in what we are calling bossless organisations, people agree the structures and decision-making authority together. We may agree, for example, that someone should have the authority to decide matters in a domain they have expertise or experience in. And if we later learn that this doesn't work for us, we can make a new agreement together.
In bossless companies, there is no longer a dynamic of boss and subordinate. Another way to put it is that we shift from a parent-child dynamic to an adult-adult, partnership dynamic.
Bossless also doesn't mean anyone can do whatever they want. With great freedom comes great responsibility. Working in a bossless company means you must undergo a mindset shift from a consumer of your workplace culture to a producer. You see yourself as co-responsible for your own career development. You see yourself as co-responsible for creating a team that works well together. You see yourself as co-responsible for addressing the challenges you face as a group of colleagues.
It can be extremely rewarding working in a bossless organisation. But it also takes a lot of personal development, self-insight and high levels of accountability.
There are different definitions of the word 'boss'., but what we generally mean is anyone who has power OVER you and who has inherited that power from a top-down, fixed hierarchical structure.
To be clear, a bossless company doesn't mean there is no structure, no leadership and no authority. The difference is, in what we are calling bossless organisations, people agree the structures and decision-making authority together. We may agree, for example, that someone should have the authority to decide matters in a domain they have expertise or experience in. And if we later learn that this doesn't work for us, we can make a new agreement together.
In bossless companies, there is no longer a dynamic of boss and subordinate. Another way to put it is that we shift from a parent-child dynamic to an adult-adult, partnership dynamic.
Bossless also doesn't mean anyone can do whatever they want. With great freedom comes great responsibility. Working in a bossless company means you must undergo a mindset shift from a consumer of your workplace culture to a producer. You see yourself as co-responsible for your own career development. You see yourself as co-responsible for creating a team that works well together. You see yourself as co-responsible for addressing the challenges you face as a group of colleagues.
It can be extremely rewarding working in a bossless organisation. But it also takes a lot of personal development, self-insight and high levels of accountability.
