"Do you know someone smarter than you in your industry?" - Ask the jobseekers of the multi-million dollar software company Oracle. This question is always insisted by its former CEO - Larry Ellison, who has single-handedly raised more than one generation of top management leaders from the Forbes lists. Now at the head of his own corporation are two of his "students" who have worked with him for many years: Mark Hurd and Safra Katz. But Larry Ellison's non-standard question is still being asked here, and, according to his instructions, personnel officers should hear in response that the applicant does not know anyone smarter than himself. If they hear a different name, then they begin urgently to look for the named person - and so on in a circle until they find the most confident employee.
Of course, Larry Ellison perfectly understands the eccentricity of the scheme, but he sincerely believes in its effectiveness, because over 40 years of Oracle's leadership, real luminaries of the industry have emerged from under his protectorate. Some stayed in the company, and some went on a free voyage.
On the latter, however, Larry is not in the least offended. After all, he is a superboss. And the good news is, he's not alone.
In a sense, they could be called a special caste: leaders like Larry Ellison are usually fantastically self-confident, vain, witty and ruthless in business. But - most importantly - they have an excellent ability to discover talents and turn their students into those who, without a twinge of conscience, can say: "Yes, I am the smartest in my industry."
There is one more good news: this caste is not closed. You can (and should) become a superboss. How to do it (and why) - he tells in his book “Superbosses. How Great Leaders Stream Talent”Taka Business School Professor of Management Sidney Finkelstein.
Who are they
“Superbosses are such leaders who help their subordinates to become better,” Professor Finkelstein is convinced. “I studied the success stories of a huge number of heads of top corporations of our time and found that they all once worked for the same people. Superbosses."
Who are they? The professor gives a whole galaxy of examples.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has gifted the IT industry with more than ten leaders who have taken over CEO positions at the industry's largest corporations (for example, Diraja Pandy, who founded Nutanix, or Michael Fields, who headed Open Vision). The founders of the Burger King, Outback Steakhouse and Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chains once emerged from the protectorate of the late restaurateur Norman Brinker. And the genius of Ralph Lauren opened the world to such talented designers as Simon Spurr, Vera Wong, Todd Snyder, Tory Burch and many others (read: "From The Great Gatsby to Melania Trump: The Universe of Ralph Lauren").
In total, Professor Finkelstein cites about 18 people who have raised a whole generation of leaders in a wide variety of industries, from the media business to politics. Moreover, the author himself has no doubts: superbosses are found at all levels - be it the head of a small company in the American hinterland, a rural teacher, a musician, or a generally recognized titan from Wall Street.
Decide who you are
Of course, if all the Superbosses were like each other, like a blueprint, there would not be such a variety of successful corporations in the world, each of which has its own unique culture and value system. Still, talented leaders have some common features. “These bosses understand that the only way to keep the company alive for as long as possible is to cultivate talent,” says Professor Finkelstein. And it is this understanding that unites them. The only difference is in the style of education.
Nice bastard
Examples: Larry Ellison, Michael Milken, Bonnie Fuller, Julian Robertson, Jay Chiat
Such a boss may not congratulate you on your birthday, remember the names of your children and, when giving instructions, will not say "please." He will make you work 24 hours a day, but interestingly, he himself will work 25 hours. Nice bastard appreciates his staff and, if he sees potential in his employee, he will develop it to the last. Of course, if his student is ready to endure his antics and difficult character.
Educator
Examples: Mary Kay Ash, Bill Walsh, Michael Miles, Norman Brinker, Tommy Frist
Educators remind their employees of such mothers who are not afraid to spend their precious time and energy on personally teaching their protégés. More often than not, such superbosses try to educate their subordinates to younger versions of themselves, and they rejoice in the success of their apprentices about as sincerely as your parents rejoiced when you took your first step.
Iconoclast
Examples: Ralph Lauren, Alice Waters, George Lucas, John Stewart, Lorne Michaels, Robert Noyce
Typically, iconoclastic superbosses are representatives of creative industries, where the leader is not only a strategist and businessman, but also an artist. Their relationship with co-workers is reminiscent of the relationship between Socrates and Plato, or between Leonardo da Vinci and Francesco Melzi. Iconoclasts see in their subordinates the prospect of continuing their own genius, so most often such leaders train employees not from the position of a mentor, but from the position of an inspirer.
Hire outside the box
Least of all, superbosses are interested in education, work experience and the notorious column "personal qualities", about which the applicant tells in detail in his resume. To tell the truth, they don't care about any papers at all. They get straight to the point.
Larry Ellison is far from the only one who asks his potential employees weird questions. It is known, for example, that designer Ralph Lauren first of all asked applicants to tell why they came to the interview in these clothes. Businessman Bill Sanders took an even more interesting approach to hiring: he took candidates with him and other top managers on a hike in the mountains. This helped him to look at the behavior of potential employees in a non-standard situation and thereby assess their stress resistance, hard work and ability to work in a team.
Another strategy for superbosses is to hire minority members. At one time, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Mary Kay Ash, specially invited as many women as possible to her company (these were the 1960s), believing that only ladies can be professionals in such an industry as beauty. And American football legend coach Bill Walsh was one of the first to attract representatives of national minorities in the 80s - especially African Americans.
Superbosses don't read resumes. They try to discern in potential employees intelligence (not education), creativity (not experience), and flexibility (not skill).
Delegate outside the box
The main rule of superbosses is: not a person needs to be customized to a position, but a position to a person. In fact, this goes against almost all the patterns that most executives and HR professionals follow today. Coach Bill Walsh made all his famous tactics based on the data of his players, and did not train athletes so that they could follow his scheme. Television producer Lorne Michaels loves to change the responsibilities of his employees with each other: he can quite easily instruct the actors to write the script for a show, the writers to get behind the camera, and the cameramen to start acting.
The filmmaker and creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, never gave instructions to his employees at all, preferring to delegate on the principle of "whoever is free will do the job." This allowed him to develop his subordinates from absolutely all sides.
Another important principle that almost all superbosses follow is unlimited trust in their subordinates. With such leaders, everyone gets a chance: a university graduate, a person without education, and someone who has never worked in such a position at all. For example, Ralph Lauren once, with a light hand, entrusted a model to manage an entire department of women's clothing design - "just because she knew a lot about it." The protege of investor Julian Robertson Chase Coleman III - now the head of one of the richest hedge funds in the world - at the beginning of his career received from his boss … $ 25 million to create his own startup. And, interestingly, he was not alone. In fact, absolutely any "tiger" (as all the employees of "Tiger Management Corp" called themselves) could receive a subsidy from Robertson. The main thing,as one of Robertson's subordinates recalls, it was necessary to put forward new and fruitful ideas non-stop. Those who followed the conditions received good fees and Roberston's respect. Whoever tried to sit out - instantly flew out.
Only those employees who share his vision of the company's success receive the superboss's trust. That's why Ralph Lauren was not afraid to hire a model to manage the design department. This is why Safra Katz actually served as Oracle CEO for ten years, until Larry Ellison officially appointed her to the post. And finally, this is why director George Lucas still allows his employees to independently prescribe the characters of the characters in his films, select the musical accompaniment, and so on. Superbosses have a clear understanding of how their boss would handle a given task, so there is absolutely no need for their bosses to supervise small work.
Fire outside the box
Finally, any super-boss is ready for the fact that a talented chick raised under his own wing will one day want to start free flight. And this, perhaps, is the main difference between exceptional managers and mediocre ones: they do not perceive the departure of a valuable employee as a betrayal.
In their companies, superbosses do not tolerate stability more than anything else, so if they see that their once beloved employee has reached his ceiling under their protectorate, they let him go. Why? The point is, superbosses are forward thinking. First, they perceive staff turnover as an opportunity to find new talent. Moreover, here the success of your protégé in his own endeavors can make you a good advertisement: applicants with remarkable (but not yet disclosed) potential will themselves look for opportunities to work with you. Second, superbosses see their employee leaving as a chance to expand their own business relationships in the not too distant future. As a rule, the successful "chicks" feel great gratitude to their mentors, and, consequently, when they move to a new place, they willingly make business contacts with their former employer.
And the superboss fuels that feeling in them. Such bosses never burn bridges. On the contrary, even outside the work contract, they continue to give their ex-employees business advice, bring them together with the right people, and generally maintain warm human relations with them.
Your first step
Professor Finkelstein is convinced that superbosses are not born. They become. Of course, you won't be able to master all the techniques of non-standard leadership right away, but you can start small. Try, for example, to assess your employees in terms of their potential, determine what skills can be taught, and risk giving one of them a task that is beyond their competence. It is also important to nurture self-confidence in the employee and give him the right to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to give newbies a chance: they tend to learn faster and adapt more easily to company values than experienced professionals.
Don't forget about fostering corporate culture in the team. Your employees need to be clear about the company's goals and how their line manager sees them. This will help them to act independently - but within a given course.
Finally, if you see that your employee has stopped in his professional development and you cannot give him a new impetus, do not be afraid to let him go. Firstly, your personal relationships will not suffer in this way, and, secondly, being immensely grateful to you, such an employee will be the first to reach out to you if you need it for some reason.
Photo: Getty Images
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