As the head of engineering in my organization, I am responsible for hiring decisions within our team. I'd like to start by saying that hiring people smarter tha

As the head of engineering in my organization, I am responsible for hiring decisions within our team. I'd like to start by saying that hiring people smarter than you is the best problem a manager could hope to have; the alternative, since intelligence is always relative, is hiring someone who isn't smarter than you. Part of being a manager is wanting to see your team succeed. It doesn't matter if you're the founder of a fledgling startup just trying to make it or the CEO of a Fortune 500 organization trying keep your shareholders happy: as a leader, your success depends heavily on the success of your team. I agree with the tenets of the article; there's no veiled argument coming from my direction. My point is a slightly broader perspective: if you're going to be in a managerial position, you shouldn't need an article telling you how to deal with hiring people smarter than you. You should strive to surround yourself with geniuses. Be proud of the organization you're growing. Is there a chance that one of them will one day oust your position because they could do a better job? Sure, of course there is... but that would still be what's best for the business. I think a major problem with how many businesses are being run today is that managers want to hold their positions so that they have power. They want to be "the boss." While there's nothing inherently wrong with having ambition--in fact, I'd say it's a positive trait--it's a harsh contrast when compared to, say, programming. Very few people want to be programmers for the power and glory it provides; people build software because of an inherent desire to create, or a passion for the subject matter. In my opinion, passion leads directly to success on the job. When people take promotions for "career ambition" or a higher salary, rather than actually doing a job they would enjoy, it leads to cascading problems within an organization. Not everyone is cut out to be a good manager, and not everyone would enjoy being a manager. When you take positions for the wrong reason, you end up thinking that you're not doing a good job (you may be right), and instead of doing what's best for the team, you do what's best for your own job security... such as fearing the great new engineer you just hired, or even worse, not hiring her at all. This comment got a little long-winded, but I think that it's important to think about the greater issues that cause anxiety for technical managers. They're problems that are easily solved with an open mind.