Secrets of Superbosses

 

 

 

 

Superbosses share not only personality traits – confidence, competitiveness, imagination, and integrity – but also people strategies, according to Sydney Finkelstein, Steven Roth Professor of Management at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and author of Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Manage the Flow of Talent, in a recent article he wrote for Harvard Business Review,

In his research on the managers he calls superbosses (which include Mary Kay Ash, Larry Ellison, Ralph Lauren, George Lucas, Julian Robertson, and Bill Walsh, among others), Finkelstein identified the following practices in hiring and managing talent:

1. Unconventional hiring

Focus on intelligence, creativity, and flexibility – hire people who can approach problems from new angles, handle surprises, learn quickly, and excel in any position

Find unlikely winners – take chances on people who lack industry experience or college degrees

Adapt the job or organization to fit the talent

Accept churn – acknowledge that creative, flexible, smart individuals have fast-paced careers and want to move on

2. Hands-on leadership

Set high expectations – demand extraordinarily high performance while instilling a sense of confidence and exceptionalism in people

Be a master – delegate and trust the team to execute

Encourage step-change growth – offer advancement opportunities beyond those found in traditional organizations, including customized career paths

Stay connected – counsel protégés long-term, even after they leave the organization

For more information on superbosses and their leadership and management practices, see the full HBR article.

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