[Dueller]

During my long drive to visit my parents over the holiday I got a lot of solitary windshield time. As is my habit I tire of music and try to catch talk radio, NPR, etc to break up the monotony.

I caught a snippet of an interview with some highly successful business/corporate manager/CE0. He was being interviewed on what he felt were the three most desireable traits/qualities of a corporate head. His answer? Drive/dedication, intellectual curiosity and...insensitivity.

The first two are pretty much a cliche. But a discussion ensued about how business leaders inthe past 50 or so years have been far too concerned about being compassionate or sensitive or concerned about the welfare of the rank and file. He postulated that while being sensitive to others may be desireable in personal or family relationships, he found no place for it in corporatee decision making. His theory was that only when a leader could make any decision without being concerned in the least about any potential negative impact on subordinates could you be effective. Strict objectivism. He even bragged that he has never lost a minutes sleep over difficult decisions in his decades in positions of authority.

Interesting. What say you?