Is it ever ok to be a jerk at work? ππ»
Too good to be good?
This year I've read the autobiographies of Richard Branson and biographies of Jack Ma and Elon Musk and am part-way through Steve Jobs.
It's no secret that all four have VERY different leadership styles.Β From the collaborative and relational Branson through to the fear and control-wielding Jobs.
Given my experience and the problems I help teams solve, I've been surprised to find myself being fairly accepting of Musk's and (especially) Jobs' intense, unforgiving styles on the basis that what they're doing is 'important, industry (and world) changing work.
And I'm not the only one; despite the tantrums, fights, borderline bullying and relentless control of details, many of Jobs' coworkers are quoted as saying they were 'lucky' to have been able to work with him.
Branson and Ma made incredible achievements and advancements in their industries, and beyond, with a very different approach.Β
Are we allowed to make exceptions to generally acceptable behaviour for the 0.01% of those people who are working at these extremes of innovation and insight?
And where does this start and stop?Β Because the darker end of this spectrum is the abuse of power seen in Hollywood (and beyond).
At #ideasfightclub on Wednesday I had this conversation with someone -
'would you rather be operated on by a) a surgeon who is a horrible person to work with but is at the very top of their profession, or b) a good surgeon who is a better team player?'
They went for option a.
I thought back to the studies which followed the Korean Air crashes - where a lack of ability for the junior crew members to speak up against their seniors led to catastrophic (and fatal) crashes.
So, would I rather be operated on by someone who has the whole team working together to save a life?Β Probably.
Most of us aren't saving lives or creating generation-defining technology.Β So is there any excuse to act like we are?Β Probably not.
And coming back to Apple, yes we have the beautiful lines, the rounded corners, the perfect (hidden) chips and those fonts, but was there an opportunity cost?Β Who knows.
Who would you rather be operated on by?Β And who would you rather work with?
"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence."
Sheryl Sandberg
Catch up: This week on LinkedIn
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