The number of genuine intellectuals in the business world is increasing day by day. It is not easy to manage these intelligent, but often eccentric people. Few managers are more experienced or adept at managing intellectuals than Hedley Donovan. Donovan, editor-in-chief of Happiness magazine and later Time Magazine Inc. (now Time One Living), spent 30 years "managing these unmanageable people" – a term he uses in a new book. Donovan's lessons are valuable for those who want to lead highly creative staff who generally don't like to be led.

According to a less strict definition, intellectuals are those who, in terms of inclination and occupation, are mainly engaged in intellectual work rather than material production; Their ideas have a certain depth or originality; They can't help but want to write about their opinions or speak them publicly. Managing these people is an art.

The main pressure on managing intellectuals stems from the fact that employers urgently need creative and independent thinkers, and at the same time need to discipline them. And the people he wants to lead are, in general, people who are very averse to being led. The work of employers who need intellectuals is not easy to define clearly, and the criteria used to measure them are highly subjective.

In the years that Donovan managed to master this aspect of management, he did begin to explore certain patterns and patterns. These patterns and patterns apply primarily to journalism, but many of them have a broader scope of application.

Hold your breath

In an intellectual unit, employees know more about the boss than they do about the manager. A large part of the workers have the same social status as their bosses -- academics, journalism, and professions. So, bosses will be carefully observed and studied by savvy guys who like to make small talk outside of work. Intellectuals may not be as fast as blue-collar workers at identifying the real from the fake. But, once they see it, they speak very ruthlessly. The motto that the boss should follow is: don't put on a show - keep your composure.

Leading intellectuals is not an easy task

The person in charge of this work is to create and improve the well to protect an environment in which creative people can give full play to their talents. Those people may not always be as grateful to Dade as their boss thinks. They may be moody and prone to tantrums. But, despite this, the truth remains that one of the most satisfying things a manager feels is that he or she has helped create or develop an intellectual genius. As long as the management is meticulously managed, even large and complex units can encourage creative people and make them stand out.

You must be as loyal to your subordinates as you are to your superiors

This traditional thinking in military command is at least as important in the management of intellectuals. A good officer should defend the interests of his subordinates, not blindly, but always assume that they are innocent when the evidence is insufficient; Give as much praise as possible; If something goes wrong, even if the responsibility is not entirely on you, you will bear it. A good boss who manages intellectuals should treat his subordinates exactly the same as his superiors, and if they don't have a boss, they will treat people from the outside world the same. Intellectuals tend to be uneasy about things and rarely have a hero-worship mentality. They expect their bosses to be loyal to their subordinates.

First-class talents are people who think independently

Such people are never fully employed. Intellectuals do not agree with the boss without thinking, and if so, the person is of little use. But in a unit of intellectuals, leaders must often make decisions that do not please everyone. In such cases, the best hope is that the dissenting parties will respect the protocol under which the decision was taken.

Systems, charts, forget about these

Maybe there's a chart of Time magazine's editorial system organization somewhere, but I've never seen it. I asked the editors-in-chief to leave their magazines, rotate for short periods of time, and move into my office as acting deputies at any time, and then out at any time. This is good for me and others to have some healthy brewing in our heads. This rotation has also helped to break down sectarian attitudes among the magazine's editorial staff.

"Justice" even if the rules are unreasonable

Since the measure of good or bad work is subjective, managers of intellectuals in particular need to make their subordinates feel "fair". He will never be able to convince everyone, but he needs the majority, say 90 per cent, of the staff to be convinced that the quality standards he sets are fair to everyone, even if they are difficult to define or even unreasonable.

Dare to criticize

Needless to say, managers must be good at praising subordinates. But it is a much more difficult job to criticize people who are prone to anger at every turn. Successful criticism of intellectuals must have three meanings: First, you can do a better job. In fact, there are some jobs that you have done very well. I just hope you'll do the rest of the work just as well. Second, measure your colleagues by the same standard. Finally, for me personally, I hope you and others will hold these standards to the test.

Grasp when to say something

In most intellectual units, there is a general high degree of tolerance, and consultations are never interrupted, seeking consensus, and acting directly on orders are disliked. Still, there are times when democracy can no longer be talked about. A decision must be taken, and not all votes can be of equal weight.

There is a steady stream of ideas

Intellectuals often have a lot of ideas about how employers can do their jobs better. New ideas are mixed with complaining about the status quo, and the boss has to adapt to that. This tendency to assist in management should be encouraged, and when these ideas are received, whether good or bad, be sure to inform the person who made them that the opinion has been received. In fact, this constant flow of ideas is essential for the company to be more dynamic and renewed. The boss needs the staff to come up with ideas even more than the staff needs to come up with ideas and be appreciated.

Know when the drum noise is getting closer

In an intellectual institution, the whining of grievances is more or less constant. However, the boss must find out in person or through other scouts when the drum noise is louder. Something may need to be looked at.

Intellectuals are well paid, and they deserve it

The company gave me the financial resources to reward those who deserve the awards.

Very important details

The flow of new forces of talent is very important to intellectual institutions. Therefore, the manager should personally delve into this "detail", no matter how competent his deputy is in charge of the work.