Incompetent Male Leaders are recruited because it is difficult to differentiate between confidence and incompetence. The only advantage men have over women is that men are able to show charisma and charm which is mistaken for confidence and leadership potential. Men think that they are smarter than women and therefore are perceived to be so.

Freud wrote that a group of leaderless people tend to put all their fears and anxieties onto a person that they choose as leader. These people are generally not fit to lead. They are self-centred and over confident which makes them poor leaders. The point is that we have to be responsible and own our own feelings so that they don’t get transferred or projected onto the leader.

The better leaders are generally more humble and emotionally intelligent. Women are generally more emotionally intelligent than men. So ironically don’t get chosen as leaders.

Brexit can be seen in this way. A group of disenfranchised people unaware of their feelings of vulnerability, weakness, and upset made a decision through impotence and rage. The option that they chose was lead by politicians who were narcissistic and self serving. The group chose the option that ultimately would not serve them. Ironically many perhaps would still not believe this.

It is the same in organisations. Male managers who rise to the top of organisations enable its downfall. Men who bluff their way through the interview, are exactly the type of leaders that the organisation doesn’t need to remain successful. The paradoxical implication is that the same psychological characteristics that enable male managers to rise to the top of the corporate or political ladder are actually responsible for their downfall. In other words, what it takes to get the job is not just different from, but also the reverse of, what it takes to do the job well. As a result, too many incompetent people are promoted to management jobs, and promoted over more competent people.

This is so embedded in our culture that women who want to be leaders are expected to take on these characteristics of self centred male leaders. It seems that most leaders fail because they have been chosen for these characteristics. Has good leadership always been the exception or the norm?
Incompetent Male Leaders

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017
All rights reserved
Disclaimer:This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

s