Where a jerk may lead well!
Intuitively, a people person should make a better leader than a jerk because, by definition, what makes a people person considered as such is his caring attitude. He is supposed to make more effort than a jerk to communicate with and understand other people and help them understand himself.
But there are 3 conditions, put together, under which a jerk may also exercise effective leadership:
1) His team comprises of relatively high earners;
2) They are engaged more in strategic or intellectual than in operation matters;
3) But most importantly, the system of accountability, or the ownership of problems is clearly defined.
Indeed, under these conditions, and when issues get too confusing, a jerk may get problems solved more efficiently than a honey. What makes a jerk as such is that he couldn't care less about how people feel when he cuts the cross-lines and simply holds people accountable.
Running a large operation team, particularly those responsible for service delivery on the frontline, is a different matter all together. They are generally ground level staff, i.e., relatively lower paid than those corporate intellects who know better how to justify their value and are more prepared to suck it up, therefore, should not be expected to take more shit than they really have to - which the customers usually give them enough. What they need from their leaders is simply care.
But then a disciplinary force, e.g., an army, may be an exception, where a jerk may still find his place to lead.
Putting psychopaths aside, who really wants to work with a jerk, perhaps not even another jerk, certainly not in a corporate environment. But the problem is that a jerk may not realize that he is perceived as such.
But there are 3 conditions, put together, under which a jerk may also exercise effective leadership:
1) His team comprises of relatively high earners;
2) They are engaged more in strategic or intellectual than in operation matters;
3) But most importantly, the system of accountability, or the ownership of problems is clearly defined.
Indeed, under these conditions, and when issues get too confusing, a jerk may get problems solved more efficiently than a honey. What makes a jerk as such is that he couldn't care less about how people feel when he cuts the cross-lines and simply holds people accountable.
Running a large operation team, particularly those responsible for service delivery on the frontline, is a different matter all together. They are generally ground level staff, i.e., relatively lower paid than those corporate intellects who know better how to justify their value and are more prepared to suck it up, therefore, should not be expected to take more shit than they really have to - which the customers usually give them enough. What they need from their leaders is simply care.
But then a disciplinary force, e.g., an army, may be an exception, where a jerk may still find his place to lead.
Putting psychopaths aside, who really wants to work with a jerk, perhaps not even another jerk, certainly not in a corporate environment. But the problem is that a jerk may not realize that he is perceived as such.
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