What if he or she, meaning the team member, is smarter than you? Really, yep…what if? They do this and that. They make really great decisions and you look at them and think (please don’t say out loud) “you are pretty amazing, please don’t leave.” By the way, they will. Retail is not the industry it once was – it isn’t. Another blog moment.
They get “it” really quick and then you have to manage and lead someone who is equally if not more so qualified as you to run the store. Wow, they are great. I hate them and love at precisely the same moment. I get it.
One day as manager (I totally sucked), I had a subordinate (yeah, not only seems like a harsh word, it is) who said “don’t send that voice mail.” I was ticked off and wanted to let my boss know he was a knucklehead. This team member saved me from myself. They understand two miles beyond where I was. I had a “Smarty McSmarterson”…someone smarter than myself.
You know these people. They walk around and think and do and say things that you go “Wow, really. Darn it that is really cool and there is no way I could have said that even remotely cooler than you just did. Darn it. Really? Stop being so smart in my vicinity.”
As manager, you are tasked to get things done through others. And sometimes they proceed your ask, your request. They have already figured it out. They have a better way to do “it”. They have been there and done that, and you didn’t get the t-shirt. So what to do? How do you lead a leader?
When you lead others, especially those with strong leadership tendencies, you cannot rely on a “fixed management tactic”. You must consider the fluidity of the people who make up your team and take into account their interests, unique characteristics and motivational triggers. Leading leaders is relationally-based leadership. Leaders follow you not because you are ‘cool’ or have some kind of pitch, but because you can tie the relationship of the goal with their unique and personal interest. They are smart. They get it. They will because they can show you something you never would have thought of (sorry for ending in a preposition).
First off as in all things managerial, be authentic. Own your actions or in some cases your inaction.
Make them a champion. Make them a problem solver and revel in their “Smarty McSmarterson-ness”. Give them something…daunting, challenging, odd or problematic, if nothing else but to see outside your own exclusive box.
Let them shine and give them all the credit. No matter what, let them win (even if it is a very small win).
Perhaps the first obstacle with this scenario may very well be your ego. You may not like it that, as manager, you don’t have the answer and someone with a lesser pay grade does. It stings. Get over it.
In the words of Val Kilmer in the movie Real Genius, “When you are smart, people need you.” I needed that guy years and years ago. I needed a smart person. So do you, even though you don’t like too much.
So what if they know the answer to: “A street light is at the top of a 14 ft. tall pole. A woman 6 ft. tall walks away from the pole with a speed of 5 ft./sec along a straight path. How fast is the tip of her shadow moving when she is 35 ft. from the base of the pole?” Or maybe they know how to solve the customer’s issue with their widget before you. I want smart people around me.
“I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow.” Woodrow Wilson
Cheers