The 6 superpowers of generalists: Leadership gold dust
- A generalist — in contrast to a specialist — is someone who possesses a wide range of interests, knowledge, abilities, or experiences.
- Generalists tend to thrive in environments that require flexibility, creativity, and the ability to connect ideas from different fields.
- A generalist perspective builds resilience while thinking beyond one industry’s norms.
A generalist is someone who possesses a wide range of interests, knowledge, abilities, or experiences (as opposed to a specialist, who carries a deep focus on a specific interest, knowledge, ability, or experience).
Whether it’s embracing diverse skills or understanding different industries, generalists play a crucial role in our ever-evolving world. Generalists tend to have a diverse set of interests and abilities, allowing them to adapt and excel in various situations or roles. They often thrive in environments that require flexibility, creativity, and the ability to connect ideas from different fields.
Generalists are the ones with a big appetite for knowledge and/or experience. They do not like to stick long to one subject — instead, they like to sample a little bit of everything. In terms of profiles, this could signal a historian who likes to do coding, a technology geek who also likes biology, or a mathematician who takes a keen interest in subjectivity. That’s what we’re talking about while referring to a generalist. One of the key traits of a generalist is curiosity — they are genuinely curious about a wide range of subjects, fields, and hobbies. They do enjoy dabbling, but more than that they authentically find value and excitement in learning from many different domains.
Six superpowers of generalists
In modern work environments emphasizing complexity and innovation, the generalist’s mindset and skill set offer immense value. They foster collaboration, excel in rapidly changing conditions, and act as catalysts for fresh ideas and solutions, just to mention a few arguments advocating the power of generalists in the workplace.
Superpower 1: Generalists spur innovation
Instead of solely relying on breakthroughs within fields, successful leaders understand that innovation occurs at intersection points — and generalists excel here. Known as outside inspiration, they pull ideas from unrelated sectors, bringing novel approaches that specialists with tunnel vision easily miss. For example, generalist leaders from the product management team at Dyson revolutionized vacuums using cyclone technology inspired by industrial sawmills — definitely not a typical approach within appliance design.
Superpower 2: Generalists are bridge builders
A team of specialists can struggle to translate their knowledge to colleagues outside their niche. On the contrary, generalists speak many languages — enhancing collaboration and preventing misunderstandings. Generalists are team translators as they help break silos in organizations. Moreover, they connect ideas and resources across departments, maximizing existing resources instead of reinventing the wheel in every corner of a company. For example, at Apple, marketing needs tech insights for a new campaign. A generalist project manager who is good at marketing media and has a reasonable understanding of leading tech platforms can facilitate that knowledge exchange between marketing and information technology departments, which can eventually pull a powerful campaign for the organization, something that they made use of in the launch of Apple Vision Pro spatial computing glasses.
Superpower 3: Generalists value foresight
Beyond tracking specific topics, generalists recognize bigger-picture patterns others miss. They see market shifts before they go mainstream and prepare teams earlier. They are good at spotting trends, fashion, and fads. Diverse knowledge of generalists lets them spot potential disruptions or hidden issues. For example, generalist business leaders may sense regulatory changes by monitoring policy conversations even if not directly in their field. This can then give the company an incredible kick-start in the market, especially in highly competitive cut-throat markets (such as Samsung in smartphones, Uber in ride-hailing, and Wingstop in the fast-food market).
Superpower 4: Generalists are brilliant adapters
Specialists are great when processes are static, but generalists excel in fluid situations. In terms of problem-solving agility, the diverse knowledge of generalists fuels adaptable solutions. In the face of tech disruption, a generalist might propose solutions drawing from social trends analysis that a tech-focused team would overlook. For example, when Airbnb emerged, their generalist leaders embraced hospitality plus technology while traditional hotels struggled to adapt.
Superpower 5: Generalists champion resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that businesses with diversified revenue streams and the ability to go digital survived better. A company mindset led by generalists naturally builds this, even unknowingly. In other words, generalists’ comfort with the unknown helps companies see calculated risk as healthy experimentation rather than danger. In fact, it opens opportunities others, too fearful, simply never attempt. More or less, a generalist perspective does well by building resilience while thinking beyond one industry’s norms.
Generalists are not know-it-all freaks. Sure, they know a bunch of things, but that doesn’t make them experts on every other thing. The best generalists are super-curious and love learning from anyone, including specialists.
For example, Peloton Interactive, originally a fitness equipment company, transformed into a fitness and streaming company during the pandemic. Peloton saw a significant increase in demand for its home fitness products as gyms closed. The company’s revenue more than doubled in 2020. Their generalist leaders not only offered interactive bikes but also offered virtual (synchronous and asynchronous) workout classes, which led to a significant increase in subscriptions and sales. This helped the company bounce back and build resilience.
Superpower 6: Generalists foster learning culture
Certainly, employees mimic leadership. Seeing leaders value exploration keeps teams dynamic and discourages complacency. When curiosity permeates a company, everyone is open to learning beyond their defined job titles. Simply put, when people have a broader understanding of the business, everyone makes better decisions and feels less isolated. It creates a sense of collective brain trust, which boosts morale. It works like a nitro boost! For example, teams at OpenAI are mostly generalist in nature as they are composed of members from diverse backgrounds, including computer science, neuroscience, engineering, and ethics, to promote cross-pollination of ideas and a high-octane learning culture. Employees are encouraged to explore new projects and switch teams based on their interests and expertise, promoting a learning agenda and drive.
Generalists are not know-it-all freaks. Sure, they know a bunch of things, but that doesn’t make them experts on every other thing. The best generalists are super-curious and love learning from anyone, including specialists. In summary, generalists bring versatility, adaptability, and fresh perspectives to leadership roles. Why would anyone not want to capitalize on these six superpowers?
