Hardcore Leadership and How to Manage Knowledge Workers
One of the biggest disconnects regarding leadership has been brought about by our rapidly evolving technology. When I say “leadership,” I define that as someone people follow. And when I say “Hardcore Leadership” I define that as a leader who knows what it takes to get his people to the highest levels of achievement and makes it happen. With the exception of aristocracy, during most of history, leaders were in place because (hopefully) they had many years of experience and could teach and guide their followers on the details of how to do the job right. The top down model of management, often referred to as Theory X held that a hierarchical model where the guy on “top” made all the rules because he was the boss. He said jump, and his people asked “how high?” The new model is referred to as Y Theory, meaning that the organization was flat, more collaborative and less autocratic.
So what happens when the old leadership model of master craftsman teaching the young apprentice his job no longer applies? The big shift in leadership is this: how do you lead and manage people who know more about their work then you do? With the explosion of new networking technology (Software Defined Everything and the Internet of Everything for example) how does a manager who came up learning antiquated programming languages or outdated networking technologies tell a millennial how to do his job? The smart answer is they don’t. A leader’s new responsibilty is to eliminate any friction in the organization that prevents the knowledge worker from doing their job. The second duty of a Hardcore Leader to to help his people collaborate effectively. As technology becomes every more ingrained in our world, helping teams to work effectively together. Thankfully that’s a leadership skill that has always been important and will never become outdated. Your job as a leader is to empower your knowledge workers.
A Hardcore Leader working with knowledge workers is going to have to create an environment that crackles with the energy of compelling sense of purpose. Say what you will about Steve Jobs, but you can’t deny that he brought out the very best in his people. Was he hard on them? Hell yes he was, and look what he created. Many years ago when I was in the Navy, I attempted to become a Navy SEAL, sadly I was injured and didn’t finish the program (that’s a story best shared over a drink). One of the things that struck me about being at BUD/S (Basic Under Water Demolition/SEAL) was how one of the classes that had recently graduated had a saying, “A day without a hammer is like a day with out sunshine.” That always stuck with me, because it was a clear acknowledgement that in order to become the best, you needed someone to push you harder than you thought you could go. And that is what a Hardcore Leader needs to understand; that part of your job is to clear the path for your team, and push them to achieve heights they didn’t think possible.
If technology has become so complex that a manager can’t offer any feedback or help to solve a complex problem, then his job becomes obsolete if he doesn’t bring anything else to the table.