I’ve seen it quite often. When asked, many leaders from CEOs to Presidents remark that the key to leading a great organization is to surround yourself with the smartest people, and let them go to work. Some even go so far as to recommend that leaders only hire people smarter than them. This sounds like a great strategy. The concept of having uber-talented individuals completely surround their leader is an easy sell. But it’s not without a certain level of buyer’s remorse.
These same smart people, the clevers, can easily become frustrated working for someone who isn’t as clever as they are. They can out-smart the very leader who hired them. In an attempt to re-assert their position, leaders can stand in the way of the very activities they wanted to empower clevers to do. In order to better understand their most talented, leaders need to come to terms with the 10 characteristics of clever people:
Their cleverness is central to their identity. Most clever people arrived at their career after intense deliberation and training. The work they’ve chosen is more than a job, it is who they are.
Their skills are not easily replicated. If they were, they wouldn’t be such a scarce resource. They wouldn’t be clever.
They know their worth. The skill sets of clevers are typically closer to those of a craftsman or specialist. Meaning: no clevers, no knowledge. Clevers are aware of this.
They ask difficult questions. Knowing their worth comes with a certain level of confidence allowing you to question assumptions and challenges beliefs, even of those higher above the hierarchy than clevers are.
They are organizationally savvy. Clevers often want to focus more on their contribution and less on politics, but they are also human. This means they sometimes engage in organizational politics, and often bring their level of intelligence with them.
They are not impressed by corporate hierarchy. Clevers are not concerned with what superiors think of them. Instead, they are focused on the opinions and concerns of their fellow, clever peers.
They do not want to be led. If there is one unifying theme of clevers it is this: clevers do not want to be “led” and certainly don’t want to feel “managed.” Clevers want to focus on their contribution to the organization or its cause.
They expect instant access. Many clevers become so all consumed with their projects and ideas that they cannot understand why their leaders are not. They want access to the executives they need resources from and, if denied, they perceive the organization as not taking their work seriously.
They want to be connected to other clever people. Just as clevers care for the opinions of their peers, they also want to be connected to them. Knowledge abhors a vacuum and clevers crave the intellectual stimulation that clever peers provide.
They won’t thank you. When leading clevers well, they may not even realize they are being lead. As such, don’t expect to receive “thank yous” for leadership.
Leading clever followers is a difficult, and not just because of its uniqueness. The jury is still out on whether such clevers actually are responsible for an organization’s performance. Some organizations require hiring and leading clevers (hospitals and universities). One thing is certain: you can not leader as usual. However, knowing these characteristics can help make sure you can still lead.
(Special thanks to Bob Goffee and Gareth Jones who’s 2009 book Clever: leading your smartest, most creative people provided the inspiration and enlightenment for this post.)
I agree that clever folks can be difficult to lead. I’d add one additional consideration to those you’ve listed: they may not be aware of their impacts on others. The cleverness, for all its value, may not actually extend to their relationships, and in this they may not be unique at all. Others may experience both the clever person’s intelligence and their judgments; their insight and their undermining competitiveness. This can present a challenge, because feedback about such impacts may feel to the person as if he/she is not being judged and appreciated in the right way — and it’s an ego hit of the first order. In turn this stirs up the person’s clever defensiveness, and a cycle is created. Yet, if the person cannot accept and learn from feedback, the rest of their many successes may not be worth it for the organization. I’ve coached a number of these folks because they can place themselves in a position to be fired despite their intelligence and skills, or come to want leave on their own because they feel they are not being treated fairly. We all have some of these prima donna qualities within ourselves. The trick is to connect to the person beneath that persona who is still yearning to be seen and valued for who he or she is — without the cleverness. Sometimes it is this very unclever, sincere approach to valuing the person more than their behaviors, good or bad, that can help the person find themselves and their place in the order of things. And, unfortunately, sometimes not.
I agree with you. It’s quite difficult to have conversations with clevers about the possible negative effects of their cleverness, since it is a central characteristic.