Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Monday February 10, 2025
by Neil Senturia
By this time, there will have been hundreds of stories about the Los Angeles fires. I would simply like to be one more voice added to the chorus that is absolutely heartbroken with tears at the enormity of the event.
Like many of us, we have friends in L.A. impacted by the fires. We have shared words, offered comfort and even more. In retrospect, however, there is a nagging feeling, one that has been repeated more than once by many, that the fires had a quality of “inevitability.”
It was only a matter of when, not if. That sentence falls back squarely on the issue of leadership.
All cities have issues with leadership. After all, if you don’t want to be the mayor, there is certainly someone else who does. If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen. OK, but is there a correlation between ambition and leadership skills, or lack thereof.
Eben Harrell, editor at the Harvard Business Review, has published an interview with Shilaan Alzahawi, a Stanford Ph.D. student in organizational behavior. The opening line of her study says it all — “Why do incompetent people end up in positions of power?”
Or said another way, “just because you want to lead doesn’t mean you should.” I think that sentence could/should be nicely plastered on the office door of every startup founder’s office. And perhaps some corporate CEOs as well. You get my drift.Alzahawi studied and interviewed over 400 participants. One would assume that individuals who seek out a higher rank (whether corporate or political) do so because they believe that they can provide more value than someone else. They have ambition.
Nota bene: I suggest a quick review of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar for a refresher course on ambition, and remember to put the ides of March on your calendar.
Her overall conclusion is that leadership ambition is not “a perfectly efficient predictor of competence.” How many founders/CEOs find themselves in over their heads — and are not aware of it?
Boards don’t like to hear bad news, neither do investors. So, merrily we roll along. That leaves leaders with an “inflated sense of their own abilities.” You don’t say?
Alzahawi cautions against “motivated reasoning.” The desire for power, money and status can cause people to “arrive at conclusions that may not be accurate.” As in self-delusion. Bathrooms should eliminate mirrors, given the risk of seeing yourself as others see you. Yikes.
Her thesis, after much research, is painfully blunt — “we found no correlation between leadership ambition and leadership competence.”
To my way of thinking, that translates to, if you really, badly, deeply want the job, you can’t have it. Ambitious people have a certain charm, a bit of charisma, verbal acuity, are perhaps physically attractive, demonstrate dedication, motivation, determination, and with a nod to Cassius above, they also have “a lean and hungry look.” Alzahawi concludes that none of those things correlate clearly to competence as a leader.
OK, so how did they get the job? Because we look for the wrong things in hiring. Because seeing ambition is both engaging and frightening. We want to hope, we are willing to be fooled. Maybe this person really is the second coming. Ambition is like a runaway train. It is always easier to get out of the way than to confront it.
The leadership position is not so much offered, as simply taken by default. No one wants to stand in front of a locomotive (loco mixed with motive?).
But standing aside or rolling over is not leadership either, and Alzawahi has some suggestions for how to select better leaders. “Focus on the attributes that are known to predict leadership effectiveness, such as intelligence and sociability.” Cast a wider net and play the long game, imagine not what a person is today, but rather what they could become.
My personal hiring model is simple. I look for employees who just want a chance, with their fierce ambition in check, lurking just beneath the surface. In football terms, they are “walk-ons.” And then, can I find their greatness and promote it.
I know blind ambition when I see it. It is toxic and infectious. And worst of all, once embedded, that leader is very hard to unseat.
Rule No. 839: Just look around, they’re everywhere.