The End Of The Line For Incompetent Men?
Trump facing impeachment, Boris Johnson on the ropes, WeWork’s CEO ousted ― is time finally up for bumbling leaders?
Could it be that competence matters?
Maybe! This week the walls started crumbling around some of the business and political world’s worst leaders. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, famous for being rumpled and lying, got smacked down by a unanimous court decision. WeWork founder Adam Neumann, known for outrageous behavior and wild proclamations about ruling the world, was ousted. And, of course, U.S. President Donald Trump moved ever closer to the possibility of impeachment.
Inept male leaders (and it is a male club) have had an especially good run over the past few years: A reality TV star ― with a track record of business failures and misogyny ― made it to the Oval Office. Male startup founders were showered with billions of dollars for inventing things of dubious value. A judge made it to the Supreme Court by throwing a raging tantrum.
It’s hard not to see some gender, race and class dynamics at work here. It’s rare that a woman, a person of color or a working-class anyone gets vaulted into leadership without some track record of competence. Venture capitalists are eager to give money to promising young white men but hold women and minority entrepreneurs to far higher standards. Male politicians get votes based on charm and potential, while female politicians are almost never lauded for those characteristics.
So-called promising men get promoted too quickly, rather than staying put for a few years and learning the ropes, said Elizabeth Stapp, a management professor at the University of Colorado’s business school. And these men are game to take the big jobs before they’re ready.
“Women will decline roles until they’re 100% sure they’ve acquired the skills, whereas men will take the role and learn on the job,” said Stapp. “Men are more inclined to learn as they go.”
She pointed to George W. Bush as a classic example of someone who got way ahead of his skis in terms of capabilities.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inco...hnson-adam-neumann_n_5d8b9161e4b01c02ca624ec1
editorial comment by cypress - I really do not think a black person, a Hispanic person, a gay person, a female would ever remotely be considered a viable presidential candidate if they were as dim-witted, stupid, uninformed, arrogant, and repulsive as Donald J. Drumpf.
Trump facing impeachment, Boris Johnson on the ropes, WeWork’s CEO ousted ― is time finally up for bumbling leaders?
Could it be that competence matters?
Maybe! This week the walls started crumbling around some of the business and political world’s worst leaders. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, famous for being rumpled and lying, got smacked down by a unanimous court decision. WeWork founder Adam Neumann, known for outrageous behavior and wild proclamations about ruling the world, was ousted. And, of course, U.S. President Donald Trump moved ever closer to the possibility of impeachment.
Inept male leaders (and it is a male club) have had an especially good run over the past few years: A reality TV star ― with a track record of business failures and misogyny ― made it to the Oval Office. Male startup founders were showered with billions of dollars for inventing things of dubious value. A judge made it to the Supreme Court by throwing a raging tantrum.
It’s hard not to see some gender, race and class dynamics at work here. It’s rare that a woman, a person of color or a working-class anyone gets vaulted into leadership without some track record of competence. Venture capitalists are eager to give money to promising young white men but hold women and minority entrepreneurs to far higher standards. Male politicians get votes based on charm and potential, while female politicians are almost never lauded for those characteristics.
So-called promising men get promoted too quickly, rather than staying put for a few years and learning the ropes, said Elizabeth Stapp, a management professor at the University of Colorado’s business school. And these men are game to take the big jobs before they’re ready.
“Women will decline roles until they’re 100% sure they’ve acquired the skills, whereas men will take the role and learn on the job,” said Stapp. “Men are more inclined to learn as they go.”
She pointed to George W. Bush as a classic example of someone who got way ahead of his skis in terms of capabilities.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inco...hnson-adam-neumann_n_5d8b9161e4b01c02ca624ec1
editorial comment by cypress - I really do not think a black person, a Hispanic person, a gay person, a female would ever remotely be considered a viable presidential candidate if they were as dim-witted, stupid, uninformed, arrogant, and repulsive as Donald J. Drumpf.
