Josh Bersin and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote an article for Harvard Business Review titled Hire Leaders for What They Can Do, Not What They Have Done (27 August 2019).
« Fifty years have passed since the publication of The Peter Principle, but its rule still applies today… Laurence J. Peter postulates that most competent people are promoted until they reach a position that is above their skill level, at which point they cease to grow. »
« The performance level of individual contributors is measured largely through their ability, likability, and drive. Leadership, by contrast, demands a broader range of character traits, including high levels of integrity and low levels of dark-side behaviors born out of negative attributes likes narcissism or psychopathy. »
« Leaders do need to obtain a certain level of technical competence to establish their credibility, but too much expertise in a single area can be a handicap. Experts are often hindered by fixed mindsets and narrow views, which result from their years of experience. Great leaders, however, are able to remain open and to adapt, no matter how experienced they are. They succeed because they are able to continually learn. »
« A recent academic study of over 200 firms found that performance as a salesperson was negatively correlated with performance as a sales manager. If you promote your number one salesperson to management, you create two problems: You lose your top salesperson and you gain a poor manager. »
« The secret to selecting great leaders is to predict the future, not to reward the past. Every organization faces the problem of how to identify the people who are most likely to lead your teams through growing complexity, uncertainty, and change. Such individuals may have a very different profile from those who have succeeded in the past, as well as from those who are succeeding in the present. »
« Avoid promoting entirely based on culture fit… It often results in a lack of diversity of thought and outdated leadership models. »
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzicis the author or co-author of
- Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated and What to Do Instead (2025)
- Curiosity (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) (2024)
- I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique (2023)
- Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: And How to Fix It (2019)
- The Talent Delusion: Why Data, Not Intuition, Is the Key to Unlocking Human Potential (2017)
- Confidence: How Much You Really Need and How to Get It (2014)
Articles of Interest 