I am on the view that the answer to this thought-provoking query is deeply rooted in human history. According to Ryne A. Sherman (2022), the selection process for leaders is the primary cause of modern leadership incompetence. Unlike our ancient ancestors, most businesses today select leaders based on office politics and nepotism, not on their experience, expertise, sound judgment, and ability to coordinate a group effort. Also, most contemporary leaders are selected through a political process that frequently has little to do with performance or results (Sherman, 2022). This begs the obvious question: what is the solution to the challenge of leadership selection that produces such poor results? The answer is a superior method of selection. There are currently typically three data sources that can be used to determine who should be promoted to a leadership position: supervisor ratings, peer ratings, and subordinate ratings. According to the data, superiors tend to evaluate employees based on how much they like them, how few problems they cause, and how effectively they advance the boss’s agenda. Peers, on the other hand, tend to evaluate promotion candidates according to how much of a menace they perceive them to be, particularly in terms of competition for the promotion. Subordinates evaluate these candidates based on their genuine leadership performance. Ask a person’s subordinates if you want to know how they will perform in a leadership position. Sadly, despite the soundness of this advice from a logical standpoint, the majority of organizations continue to select leaders based primarily on supervisor judgments, rarely asking subordinates for input or severely discounting their opinions. This plays directly into the hands of corporate politics experts, resulting in a constant turnover of ineffective leaders.

Ultimately, it would be prudent for organizations to learn from our prehistoric progenitors. Leaders should be selected based on their ability to establish an effective team, treat people fairly, resolve conflict, and exercise sound judgment for the group’s benefit, and not on their personal wealth, power, and glory. The answer is known by subordinates, if anyone is prepared to listen.

References

Sherman, A. R. (2022). Leadership and the nature of human nature. Deveoping Leaders Quarterly. Roland Deiser and Roddy Millar.