"Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be attained."
One of the major problems with what Peter Drucker calls "brilliant people," is they confuse their brilliance and insight with achievement. It's one of the reasons people of extraordinary intelligence rarely succeed in being entrepreneurs. Usually they'll work for entrepreneurs.
Now I know we can discuss different types of intelligences, and that wouldn't be inaccurate to do, but I'm talking the usual way of defining highly intelligent people, not all the subcategories out there.
There's one thing Peter Drucker always focused on in his management writings, and that was being effective.
Drucker said right before the quote above, that brilliant people "never have learned that insights become effectiveness only through hard systematic work."
For that reason, he identified those that worked hard and built up their wisdom by taking practical steps and learning their craft, as far more valuable than those that consider themselves highly intelligent and run around being busy; mistaking that busyness with creativity.
Just because someone is busy doesn't mean they're being effective, or that they're creative. In reality it usually means they're clueless, and keep themselves looking busy to cover up not knowing how to take practical steps.
Give me someone that want to get their hands dirty with practicalities, rather than someone that likes to banter around theories and doesn't know how to enter into real, practical engagement.
This one of the reason whys many in management are such failures. They mistake head knowledge, imagination and theory, with getting the job practically done.
It doesn't mean those things aren't important, but only those practically, systematically, and willingly transferring those traits into reality are really worth much as far as business leadership goes.
I always hear a lot of these people saying they're paid for what they know. That sounds good, but it shouldn't be true. People should be rewarded for taking what they know and turning it into effective actions and leadership.
Along with integrity and willingness to learn, these are the traits we should be looking for in our future leaders in a company.
Other Peter Drucker Resources:
The Man Who Invented Management
Beyond the Information Revolution
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