Top executives recognise the importances of having extremely smart and highly creative people on staff. But attracting them is only half the battle. You must also foster an environment in which your clever people are inspired to achieve their fullest potential. That’s tough, because most clever people don’t like to be led. This creates a problem for leaders.

Interviews with more than 100 leaders and their clever employees shows that the psychological relationship leaders have with smarter people is very different from the one that they have with traditional followers.

Clever people want a high degree of organisational protection and recognition that their ideas are important. They also demand the freedom to explore and fail. They expect their leaders to be intellectually on their plane — but they do not want a leader’s talent and skills to outshine their own. That’s not to say that all clever people are alike, or that they follow a single path. They do, however, share several defining characteristics.

The attitudes that clever people display toward their organisations reflect their sense of self-worth. Most are scornful of the language of hierarchy and often treat promotions with indifference or even contempt. Given their mind-set, clever people see an organisation’s administrative machinery as a distraction. So they need to be protected from organisational rain: the rules and politics.

Although it is important to make clever people feel independent and special, it is equally important to make sure that they recognise their interdependence: others in the organisation can do things that they cannot. But take care not to demotivate clever employees.

Try to push clever people and you will drive them away. As many leaders of extremely smart and highly creative people have learnt, you need to be a benevolent guardian rather than a traditional boss. You need to create a safe environment for your clever employees; encourage them to experiment and play and even fail; and quietly demonstrate your expertise and authority all the while.