
Humble People Make the Best Leaders - ohjeez
https://hbr.org/2017/04/if-humble-people-make-the-best-leaders-why-do-we-fall-for-charismatic-narcissists
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startupdiscuss
I always wonder, when people make such claims, if it is true.

So I am upvoting this for the simple reason that she spent so much time going
over the research that demonstrates that humble leaders are more effective.

edit: p.s. alternative theory of why we choose Charisma over Consensus.
Consensus minded people tend to pick many different leaders whereas the
charisma influenced people, even though they are in the minority tend to end
up picking the single leader who displays the most charisma (in the narrow
sense of negative, narcissistic and authoritarian charisma defined in the
article).

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discreditable
Reminds me of something from my quotes.txt:

"The problem is that by standing for public office, the candidate is showing
that they are unsuitable for the job."

~~~
kinkrtyavimoodh
I believe you're referring to this quote from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy—

>> To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to
rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the
summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on
no account be allowed to do the job.

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Animats
The US military tries to sort out the loudmouths from the competent officers.
They don't always succeed, but there's an organized process.

China's leadership tends to be promoted step by step. Read Li Keqiang's
resume.[1] Promotions are faster for the well connected (the "princelings"),
but leaders go through a lot of jobs on the way up.

[1]
[http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Li_Keqiang/career](http://www.chinavitae.com/biography/Li_Keqiang/career)

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adamheins
Your description of the Chinese system reminds me of the cursus honorum[1]
from Ancient Rome.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum)

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strictnein
If you look back at the source for the "Humble People Make the Best Leaders"
source, it's a little less straight forward than that. It's not about humble
leaders, it's mainly a study about how _altruistic_ leaders make their
employees feel:

[https://hbr.org/2014/05/the-best-leaders-are-humble-
leaders](https://hbr.org/2014/05/the-best-leaders-are-humble-leaders)

And that supposedly helped in somewhat ambiguous fields: Uniqueness,
Belongingess, Team Citizenship, and Innovation

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buckbova
That's not the only cited reference to back up this claim:

[http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206315604187](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0149206315604187)

> Findings largely support our theoretical assertions, suggesting that CEO
> humility has important implications for firm processes and outcomes.

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valuearb
"At the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant wanted back in the Army, but the Army
wasn’t interested. His reputation as a drunkard preceded him. Eventually they
did offer him a unit to lead, one nobody else wanted. The 21st Illinois
Artillery was one of the rowdiest, least disciplined, and most troubled units
in the Union Army. When Grant took command on 14 June 1861, the restless men
were only two weeks from the end of their enlistment. They couldn’t wait to go
home. Then they met Grant. At the end of June, nearly every man signed up for
another three years. “We knew we had the best commander and the best regiment
in the State,” remarked one of them.

Grant turned the unit around by demonstrating a leadership style borrowed from
Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War, marked by thoughtfulness,
decisiveness, simple orders, and—above all—humility. This, his soldiers
admired most of all. Grant shunned ostentation, flamboyance, and even a
commander’s uniform. He dressed like his men did and looked “plain as an old
shoe,” according to one Army doctor."

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52-6F-62
It seems like people tend to listen to the loudest speakers first -- everybody
else is forced to play keep up. Bla bla bla, something about portraying
authority.

Brain's not on point for elucidating further. If somebody else understands or
agrees and cares to take the mantle, I'd appreciate it.

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jrs235
So true. And for a good laugh (because this seems to be so true) here's a book
many narcissistic leaders must have read and employ (even though it's suppose
to be satire/comedic): 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get By
Without Even Trying

[http://amzn.to/2p0TuhC](http://amzn.to/2p0TuhC)

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dkhenry
I think this is pretty much the thesis statement of "The Road to Character".
Another interesting insight I am picking up from that book is that the best
leaders are really the ones who know how to identify and pick the "Best
Leaders". While those who are humble and reserved do a great job of actually
doing the work of leadership, the absolute best leaders don't actually have
those same virtues, but they recognize the quality and enable humble people to
do good work.

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shae
So, create crisis, stress, and confusion... then hire media to make you appear
charismatic, and you could be the next president?

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falcolas
Perhaps also because they tend make more money in the short term by
sacrificing the long term? Sadly, a practice which aligns with the rest of
modern society...

