By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR
Editor, HR Daily Advisor
I once read that you need three people to run a successful business—a creative leader, a businessperson, and an a**hole says business and leadership blogger Dan Oswald.
Now, I’m not sure you actually need three people, but you definitely need all three skill sets in the top people in the company, says Oswald, CEO of BLR, who offered his thoughts on the three key management skills in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter.
As I recall, Oswald says, the argument went that you need a creative type who has that intuitive ability to judge what the market wanted whether it was in product development or marketing. You need a businessperson to set strategic direction, handle deal making, and manage for profit. And, the argument went, you need the “bad cop” to do some of the dirty work, make some tough calls, and possess the ability to say no.
I worked in a company where there were three of us who fit these descriptions. We had a CEO who was a creative force who brought ideas, market sense, and a passion that helped to set the tone for the company. (Yes, Mark, I’m talking about you since I know you read this from time to time.) As president, I was responsible for the day-to-day operations, people management, and business relationships. My job was to identify the ideas that had the highest potential for success and get them to fruition. Finally, our CFO was a disciplined, “by the book” guy who constantly brought standard procedures and processes to what we were doing. Our CEO dubbed him “Dr. No” for his tendency to tell us why we couldn’t do things.
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But this mix of skill sets worked for us. Having a creative mind coming up with new ideas, challenging the status quo, and pushing the envelope, all with a feel for the market, drove the business’s growth. Having someone to evaluate the ideas, set priorities, and manage the business helped us to harness all that creative energy. And, someone who was disciplined enough to bring order to the chaos and ensure that everything wasn’t an exception helped to make the business profitable.
Can One Person Possess All Three Skills?
Is it possible to find all three skill sets in a single person? I believe so. Think of Steve Jobs.
Initially, Jobs was the creative force behind Apple. He had the vision for what his customers wanted and where the company should go.Yet as talented as he was, as a young entrepreneur he brought in experienced managers to run the company. This allowed him to focus on the creative aspects and it provided the company with disciplined management. In Jobs’ case, he brought in some “grown ups” that gave the company credibility and were experienced financial managers. The combination of creativity and business acumen worked for Apple for a decade or so.
But when the board and management ultimately forced Jobs out of the company he had founded, it lost its edge. No longer did it have that intuitive market sense and creativity that Jobs provided. You had a bunch of suits running around making decisions that weren’t in tune with the wants and needs of the customers.
Re-enter Jobs. After a decade absence, Jobs rejoined the company as CEO. Now a more experienced executive after having run Pixar, Jobs actually filled the role of both creative force and businessperson. He was making both the creative and business aspects of Apple. And to say it worked pretty well would be an understatement. During the next 15 years, Apple gave us the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Not a bad track record — to say the least.
Oh, and by the way, Job admittedly also played the role of asshole. He was extremely demanding and hard on people. He saw things in black and white. He either hated them or loved them. And while he was hard to work for and partner with, somehow he made it all work.
Jobs was that unusual individual who possessed all three skill sets — and only after he had a couple decades of experience under his belt.
So which are you? To be successful, I think it’s important for you to realize where your strengths lie. That will allow you to both work on the areas where you may be weaker, but more importantly surround yourself with people who bring those complimentary skills to the table. Your organization will be more successful if you can identify your core strength and then fill the gaps that you have as a leader with others who compliment your abilities.
Can You Appreciate the Other Two?
And here’s the key, you need to learn to appreciate those other skill sets. It’s always easy to believe that the strengths we possess are the most important. I would maintain that they are all equally important. Creativity that is unharnessed and undisciplined often leads to business failure. And sound business principles without new ideas and creative drive that is in tune with the customer can lead to the same outcome.
It’s the mix of these three skill sets in some type of harmony that can make beautiful music. Think of a symphony where strings, brass, and percussion all have a role to play. One without the others just doesn’t have the same impact. The same is true here. Now go make beautiful music!
So in your company, the CFO who was disciplined about process and procedures was the a**hole? Sounds like HR people would also be a**holes then. Maybe this is a new way for HR folks to sell their value to the C-suite execs, to show that they’re more than the “company picnic planner”: “Every successful business needs an a**hole, and I’m your man/woman.”
I hope this company can survive on 3 people alone because if a third of your energy is focused on being an a-hole, I’m guessing you aren’t going to have a whole lot of customers and employees sticking around. For all we’ve learned about leadership development over the years, and everything that came out about what a horrible boss Steve Jobs was to his staff, I’m surprised and disappointed to see an article like this being sent out to the HR community. Let’s rise above. Being an a-hole is just as weak as always being fluffy and nice. We need leaders who can be direct communicators and make tough decisions, AND who can also respect people and trust, delegate, communicate, inspire, and be humble… that’s NOT an a-hole! You may want to go back to the dog-eat-dog business world of the 80s and before, but I sure don’t and I’m glad to see that the new and future leaders we are grooming don’t either! I’ll send the a-holes your way though as they slowly work their way out of successful companies elsewhere.
I loved this article and wholehearted agree with 90 percent of it. It notes that it’s not necessarily 3 people but 3 personality types that are needed, and that managers, CEOs, ect, should always surround themselves with key people that they respect for their different perspective and abilities.
I’m in a non-profit organization where peoples needs are MY bottom line and while it infuriates me to no end to have it pointed out constantly that we need to be aware of the financial and legal repercussions of what we do, I realize that the people that push this stuff are necessary to the continued success of the business.
I think the author used the term asshole one time in the article! Of couse nobody is gonna hire someone because they say their an asshole, nor do you need to be an asshole 1/3 of the time. I think HR people might be a little touchy on this subject because they are often used as the scapegoat in situations where disapline and/or additional training are needed.
So, who in leadership or management doesn’t carry all of these attributes? I’ve been in HR for 40 years. One thing I know: When we recruit for a leadership/management position, we don’t specify in the ad, “A..holes need not apply!” We get the whole package and we deal with exhibited behavior. I’m all for hiring the Irish exec who, “Can tell someone to go to hell in such away that he looks forward to taking the trip!”
I thoroughly agree that it takes three types of personality types and most of what is said above. However, the differentiating factor for me is that it should be stipulated (maybe clarified, for some) that when we refer to “a-hole” we probably (most of us anyway) mean what NolaKaren states, people who have the ability to “make tough decisions, AND who can also respect people …” and aren’t just people pleasers. I don’t believe that just because I have the ability to make the tough decisions, some times they are unpopular ones but in the best interest of all parties involved, that that makes one an “a-hole”. I do feel that it truly becomes a matter of interpretation – some people will think of it as “the ones that have to make the difficult calls” and some will label one as an “a-hole.” My best guess here is, the latter are, more often than not, the negative nellies in the work place and as such, are terming those who possess the ability to make the tough decisions, as “a-holes” and unrightly so – this is a limited thinker, in my opinion.