Why Technical Experts Make Great Leaders

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2018

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Amanda Goodall, a senior lecturer at Cass Business School in London, argues that the best leaders are technical experts, not general managers. She discusses her research findings about doctors who head up hospitals, scholars who lead universities, and all-star basketball players who go on to manage teams. She also gives advice for what to do if you’re a generalist managing experts or an expert managed by a generalist. Goodall is the co-author of the HBR articles “If Your Boss Could Do Your Job, You’re More Likely to Be Happy at Work” and “Why the Best Hospitals Are Managed by Doctors.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	Kurt Nick is here from Ideacast. I want to tell you about the Big Take
0:05.1	podcast from Bloomberg News. Each weekday they bring you one important story
0:10.0	from their global newsroom like how AI will upend your life and why China's
0:15.4	targeting the US dollar. Check out the big take from Bloomberg wherever you
0:20.2	listen. Welcome to the H-B-Ridea cast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Sarah Kerei idea cast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Sarah Green Carmichael. Say that you called in sick today, but your work still had to get done.
0:43.0	Could your boss jump in and do your job? sick today, but your work still had to get done.
0:53.4	Could your boss jump in and do your job?
0:56.3	If they could, you're much more likely to be happy at work.
0:59.8	That's according to research conducted by our guest today, Amanda Gidal.
1:03.0	She's a senior lecturer at Cass Business School in London,
1:06.0	and she studies expert leaders,
1:08.0	like a great surgeon who runs a hospital,
1:10.0	or a basketball star who goes on to become a coach.
1:13.0	As it turns out, people managed by experts are much more engaged in their work
1:17.0	than people who are managed by generalists,
1:19.0	people who might be good administrators,
1:21.0	but who can't actually do the surgery or shoot the three-pointer.
1:24.6	Amanda's research finds that whole organizations perform better when they have technical
1:28.7	experts and leadership roles.
1:30.8	She's here with us today to explain.
1:32.5	Amanda, thank you for talking with us.
1:34.5	Thank you for inviting me.
	...

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