there are two classes of boss, those you look to for technical leadership and some degree of mentoring, and those you expect to do the actual "management" stuff so that you don't need to. for the latter category, i'm not looking for sheer brains so much as i am looking for good leadership qualities.
> and those you expect to do the actual "management" stuff so that you don't need to.
Sounds like your answer is: When there are items that smart people want to outsource, they often go work for people stupider than them rather than hire people to take care of it.
no, i think you're falling into the common technical-person trap of assuming that raw intelligence is the only measure of competence. i don't want to work for myself, and i don't want to hire people - i want to be competent at my job, and work for someone who is competent at theirs. that someone may or may not be more intelligent than me; it's largely irrelevant as long as they're smart enough to do their job well. (and i may or may not be more intelligent than they are; it should likewise be irrelevant to them as long as i do my job well)
Your boss can be smarter than you at his job, and successfully hire you, smarter than he is at your job. That's an odd way to word it, but the fact remains -- there are generally different skillsets and competencies involved, and you are looking to build or be a part of a team with complementary talents.
