Build an A-Team

MANAGING MASTERS

There is a moment, a cusp … we are never so wise as when we live in this moment.

—Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

George Washington, familiar as a war hero and the first president of the United States, struggled with an issue many managers face: allowing a top-performing staff member to jump to a new learning curve.¹ Alexander Hamilton was Washington’s secretary, his most capable aide, for four years. Hamilton recognized that wartime provided opportunities to demonstrate his abilities and further his ambitions. Extraordinarily gifted, he possessed the commensurate desire to advance in rank. He became insistent, ever ...