Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? Article in the Harvard Business Review. Please discuss...
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Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
I would say that people tend to go for what they like and are easily fooled by charisma and charm. In Lotusland, we had one of these a few years ago, one William T. Vander Zalm. The Zalm was gifted with a huge amount of personal charisma, a million megawatt smile and a confidence that disarmed anyone within a hundred yards. I mean, you could be ravaging the man and his excuse for policies only to have him enter the room and immediately forget what you were saying as you found yourself smiling at this amazing person. IT'S HIM! *swoon*
We finally came to our sense, well sort of, and annihilated his party at the next election only to toss those bums out, reducing them to 2 seats in the NEXT election, which brought our next charmer to power... Gordon Campbell.
And now we've done the same thing on the federal level by electing Justin Trudeau. *sigh*
dust1n
Zindīq
"In my view, the main reason for the uneven management sex ratio is our inability to discern between confidence and competence. That is, because we (people in general) commonly misinterpret displays of confidence as a sign of competence, we are fooled into believing that men are better leaders than women. In other words, when it comes to leadership, the only advantage that men have over women (e.g., from Argentina to Norway and the USA to Japan) is the fact that manifestations of hubris — often masked as charisma or charm — are commonly mistaken for leadership potential, and that these occur much more frequently in men than in women.
This is consistent with the finding that leaderless groups have a natural tendency to elect self-centered, overconfident and narcissistic individuals as leaders, and that these personality characteristics are not equally common in men and women."
Lol.
Very sad world we live in...
This is consistent with the finding that leaderless groups have a natural tendency to elect self-centered, overconfident and narcissistic individuals as leaders, and that these personality characteristics are not equally common in men and women."
Lol.
Very sad world we live in...
Scott Adams of Dilbert fame had a very simple and sensible thesis: All people are idiots. Just at different things. Someone who is good at engineering, for example, gets rewarded/punished by being promoted to management, of which they know nothing and most likely have no skill at.
This was a modern retelling of the Peter Principle, which proposed that managers rise to the level of their incompetence.
My thesis for years has been that any person who advances themselves as being capable of being good at a position, say, President of the United States, is clearly out of touch with reality, and therefore should be excluded from holding that office.
This was a modern retelling of the Peter Principle, which proposed that managers rise to the level of their incompetence.
My thesis for years has been that any person who advances themselves as being capable of being good at a position, say, President of the United States, is clearly out of touch with reality, and therefore should be excluded from holding that office.
SkylarHunter
Active Member
Because so many competent ones are not brave enough to be anything other than followers.
It's amazing how "brave" you suddenly get when you realize if you don't accept the management position yourself, they're going to offer it to Jones, who is a royal idiot.
People really want competence.
Let's consider the special case of politics.
The problem is that they've a disconnect between this desire & what appeals to them during the election process.
When I hear acquaintances talk about who they like, different things matter.
Paraphrasing.....
- He really loves Americastan.
- It's time for a woman.
- He's charismatic.
- It's time for an African Americastanian.
- He looks presidential.
Watching debates is perhaps the worst thing a voter can do.
No real information is conveyed, but emotional impressions are.
To like a candidate is the most important factor, provided he/she is on the team (Dem or Pub).
Competence?
I never hear it mentioned....except to say that the opposing candidates lack it.
But even this is for partisan reasons.
Now to generalize from this.
People spend much time on a job, where competence can be evaluated.
But the selection process is relatively short, & it's not as rigorous as it could be.
Hiring & promotion are greatly influenced by emotion, prejudices & other personal
peccadilloes, which will even outweigh objective measures.
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Tomorrows_Child
Active Member
To be honest, a lot of female leaders are not any more competent then the men. The question should be, why are the vast majority of the world's leaders from affluent, socially irrelevant backgrounds with little regard for the average person?
chevron1
Active Member
without meaning to sound misogynistic, do you think they are less competent than men on average?
Tomorrows_Child
Active Member
Most of the leaders I have come across or read about in modern capitalistic societies have been incompetent. It's difficult for me to decipher which male or female leader is more or less incompetent than the last, considering they all seem equally incompetent.
I will however say that Hilary will make a better Democrat leader than Obama ever was or that Corbyn was definitely the best and most competent choice for Labour leader here in the UK.
I hope this doesn't mean you're wishing Hillary upon us?
What did we ever do to you....other than that unpleasantness around when we revolted?
Note that we can't be held responsible for Madonna's moving there.
Tomorrows_Child
Active Member
You and your entire kind are responsible for that, take her back damn it!! (actually, after the divorce, I think she may have moved back and for that I apologise lol)
NYC has now tested positive for Madonna.
Although you're still vulnerable to infection.
If you made Trump Prime Minister, that might inoculate you against our more annoying celebrities.
chevron1
Active Member
male or female, are they really all the same?
corbyn? i hope you don't mean "corbin fisher" or "corbin dallas".
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I never really liked Al Franken's political views but I'll give him one thing for certain as to his view that it's essential to have smart and competent people to properly run a society.
If one's superiors are shallow and addleminded, so will the entire organization be it goverment or private.
Incompetence is so commplace now I really think most people don't notice it so as to be bothered anymore, or simply don't care if the world goes to hell in a handbasket.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
I find most people to be incompetent. Don't see any reason why people in leadership roles wouldn't fit this description as well.
Tomorrows_Child
Active Member
No, Jeremy Corbyn.
I give him credit for one other thing....
If one is going to be unfunny, one's talents belong in politics (not on SNL).