In a world where teams are constantly tasked with more and roles consistently evolve to meet market demands, specialist roles are no longer the only ingredient in a successful workforce.
Generalists are increasingly key when it comes to developing strategic partnerships, as they bring a diverse set of skills that can help scale your business in this growing field.
In this article, we will:
- Define what generalists are (and compare them to specialists)
- Share how their skill sets can be beneficial to partnerships
- Outline some challenges to consider along the way
What are generalists?
A generalist is someone who has a diverse set of skills that allows them to easily jump into various departments or subsects of a department. Like a T-shaped leader, they may have a specialization and have since expanded their skill set to include a broad number of functions — or they may simply have experience across many departments.
Generalists tend to have myriad interests and can see the bigger picture because of their ability to work cross-functionally. Those who consider themselves generalists are very often dedicated to developing their careers.
In the past, educators have often encouraged people to find what they’re good at and stick to it, becoming specialized in their field. While there’s still a place for specialists on the team, much of the conventional wisdom has shifted alongside a world where change is consistent. These days, employees with diverse experiences are valued.
As author and journalist David Epstein explains in his book, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, even professional athletes and musicians — experts in their specific fields — gain experience in various sports or instruments before specializing in one.
“They gain a breadth of general skill, learn about their interests and their abilities before they focus and systematically delay specializing until later than peers who plateau at lower levels,” he said in a CBS News interview.
Generalists vs. specialists
To grow your partnerships and scale your business, consider building your team with a mix of generalists (including those who specialized early in their career and have since extended their learning) and specialists.
Smaller teams, for example, can benefit from a solid base of generalists with many interests and skills and key hires like technical support specialists or product and industry knowledge specialists.
By consolidating a team’s skills, generalists and specialists can work together to create a thriving ecosystem in partnerships and beyond. Generalists are likely to lean on a specialist’s advice and specific skill sets when problem-solving or planning, but they are also essential in cross-department and company collaboration. Generalists can pitch in as needed and help navigate growth and change as your business develops.
The value of generalists in partnerships
Generalists bring a wide range of skills, knowledge and perspectives to partnerships, which makes them extremely valuable — particularly if they have a specialization first, like affiliate marketing, demand generation or running sales cycles.
“As a partner manager, a partnership leader, you do need to be quite a bit of a generalist,” says PartnerStack CMO Tyler Calder. “But I would still venture a guess and say the best partnership managers are ones that grew up with some kind of specialty in their back pocket.”
Thanks to their adaptability and flexibility, generalists are often able to connect with and understand various channels and teams. Sometimes, they come up with creative solutions that a specialist might overlook.
Furthermore, generalists are often able to communicate with a variety of specialists and partners with diverse backgrounds or skills, ensuring a smoother partnership. They offer a broad perspective for problem-solving in a changing landscape and are adaptable when things shift or evolve.
Related: Become a T-shaped ecosystem leader.
Strategic benefits of leveraging generalists
There are plenty of benefits to hiring generalists on your partnerships team, from flexibility to problem-solving capabilities. Below are just a few of the advantages.
- A broad perspective: Generalists can often see the bigger picture and communicate that across several departments, getting everyone on the same page.
- Adaptability: As the partnership or market changes, generalists can adapt and use their flexibility to shift with it.
- Innovation and problem solving: Partnerships can benefit from creative and innovative solutions when problems arise and a generalist is positioned to offer those ideas because of their broad experience.
- Risk management: Thanks to their diverse experience, generalists can offer strategic vision and help prepare for various outcomes. They can prepare a partnership for these situations, increasing its overall strength.
- Sustainability: Partnerships are an investment, and using a generalist to foster those relationships means you will have someone in place with the ability to adapt and grow with them. That can lead to longer and stronger partnerships as you continue to scale.
Related: Expert tips on how to scale a partner program with stability.
Challenges and considerations with hiring generalists
While generalists can add foresight, adaptability and creative problem-solving to your partnership team, there are also some challenges to consider.
Generalists may lack the deep expertise in specific areas that a specialist can offer — that some teams or roles require. That can lead to integration challenges or the potential for undervaluation, so balancing a mix of generalists and specialists and establishing clear roles is essential.
Implement expectations to ensure everyone contributes effectively and that nobody is overstretched or overlooked. Teams that leverage all strengths to foster collaboration and teamwork and incorporate ongoing training and development are more likely to keep employees engaged and motivated.
Leaders should encourage manageable workloads and communicate strategic partnership goals to help define expectations. If the partnership will benefit from adaptability or cross-functional collaboration, a generalist could excel. However, if the partnership team requires more technical knowledge — for example, a technical role focused on implementing integrations — than a specialist may be a better fit. Having both available is a recipe for success.
As generalists continue to rise in modern workforces and partnerships, there is an opportunity to drive innovation and adapt to changing markets while fostering an engaging place of employment for those who want to learn new skills and work cross-functionally.
Generalists are no longer considered the “jacks of all trades, masters of none” but an integral part of a well-balanced team and among the potential future revenue leaders.
See more: 10 partnerships leaders you should be following on LinkedIn.
