Secrets of the Superbosses

What does it take to belong in a category beyond superstars: the category of superbosses? They tend to be extremely confident, competitive and imaginative. But far more interesting are the similarities in the “people strategies” that superbosses employ.

What do Ralph Lauren, Larry Ellison, Julian Robertson, Jay Chiat, Bill Walsh, George Lucas, Bob Noyce, Lorne Michaels and Mary Kay Ash have in common?

All of them are known for being talented and successful — even legendary — in their respective fields. But one trait distinguishes these business icons from their equally famous peers: the ability to groom talent. They didn’t just build organizations; they spotted, trained and developed a future generation of leaders. They belong in a category beyond superstars: superbosses.

I started researching this cohort of managers a decade ago, when I noticed a curious pattern: If you look at the top people in a given industry, you’ll often find that as many as half of them once worked for the same well-known leader.

I found that superbosses tend to be extremely confident, competitive and imaginative. But far more interesting were the similarities I saw in the “people strategies” that superbosses employed. Their remarkable success as talent spawners was not the result of some innate genius. These leaders follow specific practices in hiring and honing talent.

Superbosses begin by seeking out unusually gifted people — in- dividuals who can not only drive a business forward but also rewrite the very definition of success. Here’s how to find them:

Focus on intelligence, creativity and flexibility. Superbosses value these three attributes above all others. C. Ronald Blankenship and R. Scot Sellers, both protégés of real estate guru Bill Sanders before they became chief executives of leading property companies themselves, remember how Sanders would brag about bringing in people who were “four times smarter” than he was. Superbosses want people who can approach problems from new angles, handle surprises, learn quickly and excel in any position.

QFind unlikely winners. Superbosses consider credentials, of course, but they’re also willing to take chances on people who lack industry experience or even college degrees. According to Marty Staff, who worked for Ralph Lauren before becoming CEO of Hugo Boss USA, Lauren once made a runway model the head of women’s design “for no other reason than she seemed to get it — she got the clothes.”

Superbosses often dispense with the conventional interview process, too; instead, they pose unusual questions or use observa-

Qtion as a tool. Sanders would invite prospects to hike a 7,000-foot peak on his New Mexico ranch with him and other managers. “We learned a whole lot about these kids on the hikes,” recalls Constance Moore, who worked for Sanders at Security Capital before becoming CEO of BRE Properties.

Adapt the job or organization to fit the talent. Superbosses opportunistically tailor jobs and sometimes even their organizations to new hires. Lorne Michaels, creator and producer of “Saturday Night Live,” lets his ensemble’s ideas and abilities shape and reshape their contributions to the show. Writers sometimes become performers, and performers or assistant directors sometimes become writers. This reflects an innovative mindset that superbosses bring to virtually everything they do.

QAccept churn. Smart, creative, flexible people tend to have fastpaced careers. Some may soon want to move on. That’s OK with superbosses. They understand that the quality of talent on their teams matters more than stability, and they regard turnover as an opportunity to find fresh stars. This attitude has an added payoff: Superbosses barely need to recruit, because their reputations bring a stream of talent to them.

Superbosses also have a distinct way of developing employees. Here are some of their principles:

QSet high expectations Superbosses demand extraordinarily high performance; “perfect is good enough” captures their attitude. But superbosses go beyond pushing hard for results and instill a sense of confidence and exceptionalism in their people. Michael Rubin, who was a young member of Lucasfilm’s Graphics Group in the 1980s, recalls how transformational it was to hear Lucas talk about his vision for digital filmmaking and the role they would all play in it.

QBe a master Superbosses are extremely effective delegators. Having chosen smart, ambitious, adaptable people and offered them a vision, they trust the team to exe-

Qcute. Yet they also remain intimately involved in the details of their businesses and their employees’ work. I compare it to the master-apprentice relationship you find in a traditional artisan workshop. Like highly skilled craftsmen, superbosses give protégés an unusual amount of handson experience but also monitor their progress, offer instruction and feedback, and step in to work with them side by side when necessary.

Encourage significant growth All the superbosses I studied offered advancement opportunities far beyond those found in traditional organizations. Rather than relying solely on “competency models” to guide development and promotion decisions, they customized career paths for protégés who had proved their worth, seeking to dramatically compress their learning and growth.

QStay connected For superbosses, counseling protégés is a long-term commitment. Even after someone moves out of their organization, superbosses continue to offer advice, personal introductions and “membership” in their networks. Maintaining relationships with

Qex-employees sets superbosses up for all sorts of follow-on opportunities, such as developing business partnerships. Lorne Michaels produced films and TV shows with former “SNL” stars Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen and Tina Fey.

Superbosses employ practices that set them head and shoulders above even the best traditional bosses. They seek out talent differently and hire them in unusual ways. They create high expectations and take it upon themselves to serve as “masters” to up-andcoming “apprentices.” And they accept it when their protégés go on to bigger and better things, making sure to stay connected.

Following the superboss playbook, we can all become better at nurturing talent, creating higherperforming workforces and, ultimately, more dynamic and sustainable businesses.

SYDNEY FINKELSTEIN is a professor of management in Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and the author of “Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Manage the Flow of Talent”, from which this article was adapted. © 2016 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp., distributed by the New York Times Syndicate.