"It is the singular ability to inhabit both roles at once--subject and object, actor and audience, master and student--that sets Grove apart."
What a powerful reality said in the words above of one of those writing about Grove's impact as a manager. Later on he concluded that Andy Grove is America's greatest student and teacher of business. That makes sense, as the greatest student should end up being the greatest teacher.
Of course Grove was more than a student and a teacher of business, even more importantly he was a practicioner of the art of business and so brought it into the laboratory of reality. He didn't come from the sidelines of theory like Monday-morning quarterbacks making their spurious guesses.
Want to reach a high level of business leadership performance? Learn the practice of living within and without your business or division the way Andy Grove did at the same time. To be able to objectively look at a situation while subjectively working within it is a skill very few people have. The same with being a teacher and student at the same time.
The reason it's so hard is it means stepping away from circumstances and viewing them as an outsider, while also being subjectively within the circumstance working toward completion. It's an extraordinarily hard balance to reach, and very few have ever accomplished it.
Being a teacher and student is very similar, and a little easier to understand and move within. Still, there are many business leaders and managers that are afraid to let their people know they are students at the same time they're teachers. This is a huge mistake, because we should want to develop our people in way they will be both. The best way is to consciously display it before them. Of course you can't do that unless you live it.
All of this is like living within yourself, while at the same time stepping outside yourself and watching dispassionately.
An exercise to help bring this about, is when you're a student, look at a way to teach; when your a teacher or master at your craft, look for a way to be a student. If you're involved in the middle of a situation like an actor, step outside and view it like you're an audience; if you're looking on like an audience, picture or place yourself within the situation like an actor.
The same with being subjective. If there's an emotional, strong action going on, step outside and look at it like you're not in the middle of it; if you're on the outide of a very subjective situation, place yourself or picture yourself within it to understand what those involved with it are going through.
Something else may work better for you. The point in doing these things is to develop both within you at the same time. If they can become one within you organically, you will bring yourself to a level of leadership very few have been able to attain. Andy Grove is one of those that reached that pinnacle.
Other Andy Grove Resources:
Andy Grove's Rational Exuberance
The Digital Age . . . driven by the passion of Intel's Andrew Grove
The History and Influence of Andy Grove
Andy Grove enters new post-Intel role as activist capitalist
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