Leading the Professionals

How to Inspire & Motivate Professional Service Teams

Kogan Page, 2004

15 min read

10 take-aways

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Professionals tend to be soloists. To conduct your teams of professionals like an orchestra, learn to play their way.

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Any professional whose job involves inspiring and motivating other professionals to work as a team probably has a pretty good idea of what it’s like to conduct a symphony with an orchestra of soloists. Author Geoff Smith has written a very useful book that will help you harmonize your band of hotshots. While some professionals relish team interaction, many appear allergic to harnessing their brilliance on behalf of the group. Law firms, CPA practices, ad agencies, architecture offices, research labs and other service firms all rely on professionals. But to move the firm ahead, those professionals should check their egos at the door. Not very likely, you may think, and you’d be right. At least, not likely without this book’s coaching on how to manage professionals with a light touch and still get the job done. getAbstract.com strongly recommends this book to those leading professionals in small and medium-sized firms, more so than in corporations, though it will help anyone who wants to make the members of a professional team march to the beat of a not-so-different drummer.

Summary

Follow the Leader

Most professionals - attorneys, accountants, architects, teachers and the like - prefer to do things their own way. Perhaps this reflects their advanced training and education, or their professional expertise and experience. While they may agree to work in a team environment, they’re often unenthusiastic about giving up any control.

Given the sensitivities involved, the only way to manage and motivate professionals is to be very aware of the emotional and professional messages you send them. Bright knowledge workers can be difficult to inspire and motivate, and can constitute a significant management challenge. Over-manage these finicky professionals, and you’re almost certain to alienate them. Under-manage, and your organizational goals will suffer.

Indeed, this management difficulty can lead to two mistakes. First, you may conclude that professionals simply cannot be managed. Despite this common myth, many professionals do enjoy working in teams, do not resist accountability and do not approach every situation as though they already know the best answer. Second, like many professionals, you may hesitate to take on the task of leading other...

About the Author

Geoff Smith is a consultant specializing in managing and implementing leadership programs. He worked for several major corporations and served as director of studies at Ashridge Business School. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), he co-authored Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations.

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A. 6 years ago

A very good summary. It is true that leading or directing professionals is like coaching professional “athletes” with their perculiarities and personal styles. As long as they all know the result from which the team manager must ensure.

Geoff Smith