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How do you deal with a very intelligent assistant?

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Question added by Nadjib RABAHI , Freelancer , My own account
Date Posted: 2018/04/10

A very intelligent assistant is an important resource to team work and when you have such talent members try them on the management side and make them team leaders .Its embarrassing as a supervisor to go against an intelligent subbodinate because he may end up exposing your weaknesses. My conclusion is to make a team around him .Give him tasks so that he remains focused on work related issues .

Muhammad Bilal
by Muhammad Bilal , Security Supervisor , Jumeirah International LLC

 

I will give him the appropriate task to complete within the time bound and examine the outcomes

 

Basma  Atya Ali Abu elhassan
by Basma Atya Ali Abu elhassan , عامل انتاج , بوتمان

Listen to what he/she says for a certain matter. For that instance, i can gauge how to approach him/her. If it for the benefit of the business.

Omar Saad Ibrahem Alhamadani
by Omar Saad Ibrahem Alhamadani , Snr. HR & Finance Officer , Sarri Zawetta Company

Thanks

Many great answers here, I support my colleagues answers

Mohd Zuraidi Mohd Saisi
by Mohd Zuraidi Mohd Saisi , Regulatory Manager, Airport Operations , Malaysia Airlines

Leverage on his/her intelligent that can benefit both the Company and his/her professional and personal development. They will feel motivated when they feel appreciated. 

ma renelle falcutila
by ma renelle falcutila , Recruitment Officer , Yes Madam Manpower Agency

Listen to what he/she says for a certain matter. For that instance, i can gauge how to approach him/her. If it for the benefit of the business, consider his/her point of view. Once, it is not related to the workplace, approach in a nice way.

Celeste Ann Mascarenhas
by Celeste Ann Mascarenhas , Health Care Assistant, Level 3 Nursing , Carlton Court Care Home

Thank you for inviting me to answer this question and it is a very interesting one.

An Intelligent  Assistant is hard to come by.  It takes time to learn and be a top person with skills and understanding with people.  People  who are amidst these geniuses often feel less assured and it is ego that makes them think so.  In order to learn, one has to be complacent with another generation.  Understanding is the key to this problem.

Dealing with insecurities is not a problem in daily life or routine at work, it takes equal opportunities for us to understand another person who can make a difference and help the team.  Some of the ways we can do this is:

  1. Accept that you cannot always be the smartest person in the room. ...
  2. Acknowledge your strengths. ...
  3. Don't compare yourself to others. ...
  4. Nurture yourself. ...
  5. Boost your self-esteem. ...
  6. Acknowledge what you can control. ...
  7. Consider the alternative.
  8. Respect them for who they are not what you want them to be....

Being surrounded by geniuses is great in theory but sometimes tough in practice. Here's how to reap the benefits without succumbing to self doubt.

Know Your Strengths

If you've been hired (or gotten to be the owner of a business), you must have something to offer the team. Focus on the strengths you possess, rather than the skills or knowledge you lack.

Be the King (or Queen) of Questions

When surrounded by smart people, your first impulse may be to hide your ignorance, but that's the wrong way to go, according to Doug Edwards, Google's first director of marketing and brand management, who joined the company in 1999. If you don't ask questions, you'll never learn.

Take Your Time

Getting comfortable among a team of whiz kids isn't something that happens over night, many of the responders warn. Getting to know, and learning from, truly smart collaborators can be a lengthy process, so don't expect to wake up a week later and feel totally comfortable.

Imagine the Alternative

Leo Polovets, an ex-LinkedIn and Google employee who has a resume full of genius-filled environments, offers a simple but powerful trick to keep your perspective.

"How did I adjust?" he asks, "I considered the alternative to working with smarter people, and that was even less enticing. In my experience, working with people who are less smart/experienced than you is less educational, less rewarding, and more frustrating than working with those who are smarter/experienced. Working with great peers will help you up your game."

Remember What You Can Control

Sure, you were dealt whatever genetic hand you have when it comes to innate intellectual horsepower (though smarts may be more malleable than many of us believe), but there is still one giant factor 100% under your own control. As Gwynne Shotwell reminded the audience recently from the Women 2.0 Conference stage: "You can't control whether you're the smartest person in the room, but you can certainly control whether you're the most prepared."

"You can't get smarter. But you can always work harder than someone else," agrees Farhan Thawar, VP Engineeringat at XtremeLabs, on Quora, "so the adjustment is to work extremely hard at your craft until you feel like you fit in." Christina Bonnington, a writer for Wired, also concurs: "Pedigree doesn't mean anything. Work ethic is everything."

Read

This one may be simple, but it was one of the most common bits of advice.  The first thing I did was read the thesis of the managing director, so I could get 'into his head' and learn how he thinks. This made it much easier to work with him as a colleague." Consultant Mark Simchock boils it down to "read a lot."

Don't Compete

The more you're competing the less you're learning and accomplishing. "Don't start competing. The day you'll accept the fact that there will always exist smarter people, learning will become much easier," advises Rajay Chamria. "Don't compete, contemplate," agrees Saraswati Chandra.

Conclusion:  In my generation, I learned to see what the person did or the key words he or she focused on and checked it out again so that I knew what the person meant.  This also told me the strategy he or she used to accomplish the targets.  The steps they used to identify a program is also part of the strategy used.  The next steps in action is important to goals and learning.

JIJO GEORGE
by JIJO GEORGE , BRANCH SUPERVISOR , TRUST EXCHANGE CO. W.L.L

It`s highly important to understand & know your Assistant`s behaviour and Mindset. As a engaged leader, it`s good to include him in your duties & responsibilities, however, you need to have control on his actions & deliverables. Generally, Leaders make a mistake of depending & trusting their immediate assistants and unfortunately, the Assistant starts working parallel with the Leader gaining full access to their work. It`s a Wrong Work style.

Always remember, you have to be the ultimate decision maker, ensuring and validating every work that comes from your assistant. It`s good to take suggestions/feedback, but the ownership of the success/failure will always be yours. Do Not Be Dependent On You Intelligent Assistant ! Be careful in taking such risks !

رشيد ولدعروسي
by رشيد ولدعروسي , أمن . , مؤسسة عامة

Thank ;

Of course I agree; this makes my work distinct

Jonathan Lachica CPA
by Jonathan Lachica CPA , Senior Finance Officer , Midwil Trading Inc Qatar

show the value of sharing. manage that person by mentoring, developing, training, giving room and channel to express his/her ideas and importantly motivate that person to share the talent the way you showed to him/her.  

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