## Metadata - Author:: [[tomas-chamorro-premuzic|Tomas Chamorro Premuzic]] - Full Title:: Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? - Category:: #🗞️Articles - Document Tags:: [[Sin machirulos hay paraiso. una charla heterofriendly sobre management|Sin Machirulos Hay Paraiso]] - URL:: https://hbr.org/2013/08/why-do-so-many-incompetent-men - Finished date:: [[2023-01-15]] ## Highlights - we (people in general) commonly misinterpret displays of confidence as a sign of competence ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqnc6mgadnchmvaqc2snkc)) - manifestations of hubris — often masked as charisma or charm — are commonly mistaken for [leadership potential](http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/elsevier/when-confidence-is-detrimental-influence-of-overconfidence-on-3D00y8IAtQ), and that these occur much [more frequently in men than in women](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268111001612). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqp0veygrc7cf5k4d0qdjp)) ^1a34bd - Refers to [[The emergence of male leadership in competitive environments|The Emergence Of Male Leadership In Competitive Environments]]. - This is consistent with the [finding](http://newswise.com/articles/view/545089/) that leaderless groups have a natural tendency to elect self-centered, overconfident and narcissistic individuals as leaders ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqpmkn6jjhjdhankyj7da3)) - The study is this one: [Leader Emergence: The Case of the Narcissistic Leader - Amy B. Brunell, William A. Gentry, W. Keith Campbell, Brian J. Hoffman, Karl W. Kuhnert, Kenneth G. DeMarree, 2008](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167208324101) - In line, Freud argued that the psychological process of leadership occurs because a group of people — the followers — have replaced their own narcissistic tendencies with those of the leader, such that their love for the leader is a disguised form of self-love, or a substitute for their inability to love themselves. “Another person’s narcissism”, he said, “has a great attraction for those who have renounced part of their own… as if we envied them for maintaining a blissful state of mind.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqqb03t5ce04j0t5zfk67t)) - arrogance and overconfidence are inversely related to leadership talent — the ability to build and maintain high-performing teams, and to inspire followers to set aside their selfish agendas in order to work for the common interest of the group. Indeed, whether in sports, politics or business, [the best leaders are usually humble](https://hbr.org/2005/07/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve/ar/1) — and whether through nature or nurture, humility ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqqqstnrmmkpvdp7cck2y6)) - example, [women outperform men on emotional intelligence](http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2010-00343-013) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqqz4f4c31me8ama73rsb2)) - Furthermore, [a quantitative review](http://ucl-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?frbrVersion=4&tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=TN_apa_articlespsp_81_2_322&indx=6&recIds=TN_apa_articlespsp_81_2_322&recIdxs=5&elementId=5&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=4&dscnt=1&scp.scps=primo_central_multiple_fe&frbg=&tab=local&dstmp=1376948109905&srt=rank&mode=Basic&dum=true&tb=t&vl(freeText0)=feingold meta-analyses gender personality&vid=UCL_VU1) of gender differences in personality involving more than 23,000 participants in 26 cultures indicated that women are more sensitive, considerate, and humble than men, which is arguably one of the least counter-intuitive findings in the social sciences ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqrdck0kj6j2s2ce12xm0x)) - normative data, which includes thousands of managers from across all industry sectors and 40 countries, shows that men are consistently more arrogant, manipulative and risk-prone than women. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqrnt1n2rtdbfnv51ywhk0)) - words, what it takes to *get* the job is not just different from, but also the reverse of, what it takes to *do the job well* ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqs11ty0v1maqfjnccvkkk)) - most leaders — whether in politics or business — [fail](http://enrollment.mst.edu/media/enrollmentmanagement/enrollment/documents/What We Know About Leadership.pdf). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpkqt84yzjvq7qemygk32d7w)) ## New highlights added [[2023-01-25]] - in a comprehensive review of studies, Alice Eagly and colleagues showed that female managers are more likely to elicit respect and pride from their followers, communicate their vision effectively, empower and mentor subordinates, and approach problem-solving in a more flexible and creative way (all characteristics of “transformational leadership”), as well as fairly reward direct reports. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gqkv4aw1dhbehdzcaddz7js8)) - Although these findings may reflect a sampling bias that requires women to be more qualified and competent than men in order to be chosen as leaders, there is no way of really knowing until this bias is eliminated. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gqkv4szsk58kzr0nrf1zhzf9))