Original Danish title: Primadonnaledelse ![[PrimadonnaledelseBookCover.png]] ## Brief Throughout my research career, I have focused on professionals and other highly specialized employees. Roughly a decade ago, management literature increasingly referred to these individuals as "primadonnas," equating them with the future backbone of Denmark and the western world's workforce: highly specialized employees, knowledge workers, creatives, and professionals. Descriptions of this group emphasized them as childish, hysterical, egocentric, and resistant to management. These descriptions did not align with my previous research findings. Therefore, I aimed to develop new theories on motivation and management, focusing specifically on highly specialized employees. A key finding was that those labeled as "primadonnas" by managers and colleagues were not actually childish, hysterical, or egocentric. Instead, my data revealed a clear pattern: these employees were often motivated by a higher purpose, but their reactions stemming from this purpose were frequently misunderstood by those around them. However, not all highly specialized employees are driven by a higher cause. My research identified four archetypes of highly specialized workers, each with unique motivations and, consequently, distinct management needs See the 4 different arch types in [[Motivating the highly specialized creative employee]] ## Written by [[Helle Hedegaard Hein]] ## Sources https://www.saxo.com/dk/primadonnaledelse_helle-hedegaard-hein_haeftet_9788702101126 https://hellehein.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PRIMADONNALEDELSE.pdf