DOs and DON’Ts for Leading Clever People

Leadership — 28 September 2009
DOs and DON’Ts for Leading Clever People

“Without clever people, leaders cannot hope to succeed. Without good leadership, clevers can never realize their full potential.”

The author here reflects on the book Clever where he reckons: “The paradox is that while they (clever people) don’t want to be led, they need leadership in order to achieve their potential and create value for society.”

The author of the book also lists dos and don’ts for leading clever people:

DOs DON’Ts
Explain and persuade Tell people what to do
Use expertise Use hierarchy
Give people space and resources Allow them to burn out
Tell them what Tell them how
Provide boundaries (agree on simple rules) Create bureaucracy
Give people time Interfere
Give recognition (amplify their achievements) Give frequent feedback
Encourage failure and maximize learning Train
Protect them from the rain Expose them to politics
Give real-world challenges with constraints Build an ivory tower
Talk straight Use bull or deceive
Create a galaxy Recruit a star
Conduct and connect Take all the credit as the leader

Source

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Farid Vaswani

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