Rockstar Managers

Every now and then we find managers who exude unconventional wisdom, unconventional approaches, and unconventional ways by which they manage teams, organizations, and projects. Amidst these novelle activities, we often find them excelling in doing pretty well as managers and receive adequate congratulatory remarks from his/her superiors. You might then be forced to ask how do they do it and what makes them capable of achieving what they have achieved.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the world of the Rockstar Manager.

I am not really sure if there has been a term for this before, but I'd like to call it as such since it so defines these types of Managers. These managers display such qualities present in Rockstars that it is only fitting to use that term to describe them. These are the people who eventually become the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of their organizations and are often their beloved prodigys.

So what's in these Rockstar Managers that make them so popular (and so darn good).

• Unique Persona - I don't want to use the word charm or charisma because its simply limiting the Rockstar image. A Rockstar Manager can either be charismatic or notorious or both at the same time. They have a certain presence that makes everyone know that they are there and that they need to be heard.
• Influence - What separates rock musicians from the real rockstars is their level of influence. Same goes for Rockstar Managers. You can have a unique persona but no influence and you end up being a nuisance. Influence is what gives the power to the image. Rockstar Managers know the who's who in the organization - and its not limited to the organizational structure. Rather, it also involves knowing the socio-political structure and bieng able to establish good relationships.
• Intelligence - Rockstar Managers are intelligent. They know what they are doing (even if it doesn't look that way). They have adequate knowledge of the work environment and the skills needed to survive in that environment. Just like the likes of Steve Vai or Joe Satrianni (if you don't know these folks - read up on your rock history), these are very intelligent people that make more than your average noise from rock music.
• Creativity - Rockstars are non-conformist by nature. And to be able to keep it that way, one has to have a certain level of creativity in him. This creativity helps bring out better ways of approaching projects, unique ideas and solutions, and a whole lot of "new" stuff that can only come from the creative minds of the Rockstar Managers.
• Risk Takers - Dare to be bold is the trademark of a real rockstar. Rockstar Managers are willing to take risks because this is the only way for them to know if what they think is right (or works). It just simply matches the persona of a unique and creative person.

And so to summarize the Rockstar Manager, he/she is a person that is willing to take risks for his/her creative ideas that he has carefully thought thru, and has the influence to make that happen and the unique persona to make it look good.

Yes, there are a couple out there that would fall under this category. Its a rare breed. I've seen a couple of unpolished gems our office. I hope to see them become Rockstar Managers someday.