How to become a Business Guru

Let me recall a story read in the papers some years ago widely commentated in media. I refer to “Tom Cruise affair”, related to the Chairman of Viacom’s decision announced then to terminate its contract with the mentioned celebrity. The enjoyable article "A Big Star May Not Be a Profitable Movie Maker"  [1] in The New York Times explained the possible reasons behind this decision from a managerial perspective. According to the findings of the entertainment industry analysts, “if a star-studded movie does well, it does not necessarily mean that the stars are causing higher ticket sales. In fact, it seems to move the other way around: stars select what they believe are promising projects. And studios prefer to put stars in movies that they expect to be a success (…) Movies with stars are successful not because of the star, but because the star chooses projects that people tend to like”. Apparently, “stars, on average, were worth $3 million in theatrical revenue”, which was, in many of the cases, much less of what they actually earned per movie.

 The Tom Cruise story reminded me about the impact that superstar professors may have in the returns of business schools and my intuition is that there are interesting analogies with the movie industry. By superstar professor I mean those academics that have gained an outstanding external recognition that results in high professional fees. They are sometimes referred to as management “gurus” and they publish bestselling books and impactful articles in places like LinkedIn Pulse. Superstar professors or gurus may be instrumental in some cases such as, for example, the international promotion of a business school that lacks exterior visibility, or for attracting large companies as clients of executive education offerings. Interestingly, however, business schools that may look for superstars in order to improve their own prestige may face a chicken and egg problem here since, according to a study presented some years ago at EFMD Deans Conference, the first reason why professors select a school to work for is precisely the school’s reputation. On the other hand, it seems that when a superstar leaves a school, the effects on the school’s image are not relevant: business schools are resilient and their reputation is not affected, unless a substantial number of its faculty members leave at the same time.

 Superstar professors tend to be more independent and detached from the school and they normally become less involved in the learning process – particularly in spending time out-of-class with students - than their faculty colleagues. This is something regrettable, since in my opinion the most meaningful experience for an academic happens at class with the students.

 However, denying the value of superstar professors for business schools would be na?ve, since stakeholders demand them, particularly top managers and CEOs at leading corporations, sometimes for private one-on-one sessions. A major challenge for biz schools deans is how to create the necessary conditions in order to produce more academics of this sort and the same time keep the balance in their faculties.

 But I am now interested in raising the question about how to become a business guru. Becoming a guru is not something accidental or serendipitous, though luck may play an important role as happens in other professional promotions. Allow me to share a number of recommendations if you are thinking about joining this exclusive club of thoughtful leaders:

 -First, the generation of original knowledge or ideas results only after intense years of study and reflection, as well as the exchange with other competent thinkers. Of course, there are autodidacts and self-made thinkers, but even in these cases their success comes after a long process of intellectual work.

-Write or think on what you like or enjoy most, maybe since childhood, and try to find your own niche of distinctive thinking. It is key to differentiate your own ideas, or the way you present them, from the rest of the flow. Originality is a basic ingredient for success.

-A persuasive way to produce impact is to elaborate counterintuitive ideas or out of the box lines of reasoning. You may have read Malcolm Gladwell, the popular essayist, who is an expert in this.

-Try to avoid going mainstream. Explore ideas on the verge of disciplines: for example, the connections between music and management, architecture and economics, psychology and accountancy and the like. Frequently innovation lies in linking different areas that are not logically connected, thus overcoming the silo syndrome thinking.

-Be clear and understandable by the large public and avoid just addressing the experts. Concision is also a virtue in today’s world, which loves ‘elevator pitches’ not lasting more than thirty seconds.

-Share your thoughts with your closest friends and mentors and ask for their sincere advice. The best ideas result after polishing original thoughts and benefitting from the critical perspective of others.

-And finally, if we can learn from Tom Cruise story mentioned above, it is advisable that you associate your name with a reputable academic or professional institution, which may enhance your visibility and chances of success. 

 The world needs new ideas and paradigms. If you enjoy reflection and intellectual interaction and you persevere, you may produce your own line of reasoning. You may become a guru.

Notes

Photo: Plenary session at IE Alumni Reunion 2015, Madrid.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/media/28cast.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&th&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1156764452-SpOp5MnnRPzbNeU/nKHbpQ&