WEBVTT

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I think there's no
question that we are still

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promoting at least as
many incompetent men

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as we were when I wrote
the original article,

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"Why Do So Many Incompetent
Men Become Leaders?"

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I am very grateful
to incompetent men

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who keep succeeding.

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Because every time
that somebody that

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is perceived as incompetent
or not very competent gets

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elected or wins an executive
position in a company,

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the article then goes
back to number one.

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If you seem aggressive, very
assertive, bold, abrasive,

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overconfident, there's
a strong probability

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that people attribute
competence to you,

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especially if you're a man.

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I think there is
clearly a disconnect

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between the attributes that
seduce us in a leader--

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things like confidence,
charisma, even narcissism

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and greed--

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and those that are needed
to be an effective leader.

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So the data are pretty
consistent here.

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Women outperform men in measures
of leadership-- self-awareness,

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humility, emotional
intelligence,

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agreeableness,
coachability, connecting

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with others, mentoring others,
managing others, and KPIs

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like revenues and profits.

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That's not to say
that there aren't

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any men who may display more
empathy and coachability

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than women.

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Sure.

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Some women are
taller than some men.

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But on average, men
are taller than women.

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And on average, men lead
in a more absentee way

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are more hands off and more
centered on themselves.

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And women tend to be more
centered on their teams

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and subordinates.

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So

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So on average, women display
these better leadership traits

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more often.

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Women ought not to change
their behaviors in order

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to become leaders.

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The world has no
shortage of people

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who lean in when they don't
have the talents to back it up.

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In fact, if you're really
busy doing your work,

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managing your team,
and delivering results,

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you probably don't have time
to blow your own trumpet

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and lean in.

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Having said that, women do face
a kind of double-blind dilemma.

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We complain about them
when they don't lean in

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because they don't behave
like overconfident men.

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And when they do,
we also complain,

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because they seem
pathologically ambitious

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and we're scared of them.

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This is the fundamental paradox
in which women are trapped.

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The solution to improving
the quality of our leaders

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is not to make it easier
for incompetent women

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to become leaders, but to make
it harder for incompetent men,

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so that we actually reward
people for the potential

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and talent they have, as opposed
to teaching them to emulate

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some pseudo-Machiavellian
manipulative strategies

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that won't elevate the
quality of leadership.

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If you're a manager and you
want to combat this problem,

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there are some simple basic
rules that everybody can apply.

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Fundamentally, you need
to have the humility

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to distrust your instincts.

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Develop an individual direct
connection with others.

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Pay attention to
what they're doing.

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Use others as a validation
point to evaluate

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people's performance.

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And use data,
assessments, evidence

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to make decisions, as opposed
to just follow your gut feeling.

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So if anything, I'm
proactively asking people

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to discriminate more
against incompetent men

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who want to be leaders.

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