Basic smarts and the super rich

[Cyrano]

Many very smart people such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet built tremendous fortunes. But they are the exceptions when it comes to smarts. Most “captains of industry” are denser than you can imagine.

I spent many years in corporate America working with those at and near the top of the ladder. Their entry fee was an MBA, most of them were good at what they did and they were paid more per year than most of us make in a lifetime. But when it came to anything outside their area of specialty, most of them were clueless.

Here’s a good example. I was at a user’s conference of about 2,000 people. Most of the executives were sitting toward the rear and I was sitting near them. When a motivational speaker said something like “It’s very important to treat your people like human beings,” I watched a few of the executives write it down. Think about that. What kind of person would have to make a note of that?

Mitt Romney would be very comfortable among those executives. He’s very good at buying troubled companies, breaking them up and selling off the pieces while laying off the employees. But he obviously fails when it comes to being good at anything else. Hell, he’s not even good at faking it, as is apparent just by watching him at public appearances.

The next time someone asks you “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” tell them that the two are mutually exclusive.

[porphyrian]

1. That's true in government in many places as well. n/t

[Mopar151]

2. Many of the skills are not a + for most humans

Like the ability to beleive your own bullshit well enough to pass a lie detector. Or the ability to convince a significant number of sheeple that taking it up the poopchute with a hunk of splintery stovewood is the best thing they can do for themselves.

[Cyrano]

3. One CEO I knew was

the exception. He was tremendously smart and well versed in a broad range of topics.

He used to chuckle that "The most important skill to have is sincerity. Once you can fake that, the rest is easy."

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. One of the motivators to start my own business was.....

when I realized that the people that owned the companies I worked for were not any smarter than me....they just had bigger balls. So I grew some balls and went to work for myself without a clue what direction the company would go.
I never fit well in the corporate environment because I wasn't very good at office politics. If I thought something was a dumb idea i said so. The funny thing is CEO's actually like that...up to a point but the reality is that you are living on borrowed time when you become their "Devils Advocate".

Interesting side note, a few weeks back I had to go to Greenwich CT for a meeting with some 1%'ers. The CEO of a company was running an idea of his by me because of my expertise in a certain field. He's talking and I interrupted him in the middle of a sentence. From his look you could tell that didn't happen very often, then I asked " Excuse me, but I have to ask why you haven't done this sooner? It's not rocket science." He gave me a look and then got defensive about his upper management not wanting to do it. At the end of the meeting he wanted me to think about his project and he will get back in touch.

[sammytko]

5. Maybe its just a reflex action from so many years of school?

[leveymg]

6. I've found that those at or near the very top of any field tend to be the most interested in others

Most are open, easy to talk to, unusually perceptive, and really good listeners. These are traits that serve everyone well, at all levels, of course. It's the B and C-listers who are usually impossible pains in the ass and only interested in hearing themselves talk or closed to competing ideas

IMHO, dense people rarely rise above where they started and can easily fall on their faces, taking down their organizations with them.

[Cyrano]

8. After years of working in corporations

I left and became a consultant. My work got me near the top people in some of the largest companies in America.

On the other hand, when I worked with smaller hi-tech companies, I found what you say to be true.

[leveymg]

10. Right! There is a sharp difference between those who create businesses and those who manage them.

Large, established institutions are managed, and people who go into top management tend to be very bottom-line oriented and into metrics and documentation of transactions. They don't interact freely with the outside world, and often are surrounded by protective layers of minders, recorders, yes-men and gatekeepers (and bodyguards). They really aren't interested in feedback except under controlled conditions, and many are "hired guns" (e.g., turn-around specialists brought in latterly) who don't know enough about what their company really makes or operates to intelligently talk about the technical details

On the other hand people who create businesses -- entrepreneurs, VC, and people who are actively growing their own companies -- often prefer to "travel light" and intentionally make themselves open and approachable, because that's how they most effectively network, get feedback, and start new deals.

Two fundamentally different jobs and types of people. The very best top managers, however, manage to effectively combine the open qualities of entrepreneurs with the risk management of chief executives - but, that is rare!

[Mopar151]

12. It takes a strong, secure personality to be the "Top Cat" you describe

And they are rare. For them, it's much easier to intentionally be a good guy, cuz' it frees up brain power - kinda like an astronaut.
And the guys from Finance think they're fools.

[KurtNYC]

7. Just because you disagree with someone or don't understand why they do what they do

doesn't mean they are stupid. The corporate structure rewards certain types of personalities (but for starters you have to be white and male). In middle management it rewards those who are keenly politically, who never make waves and who can be both scapegoat and scapegoater effectively. At the top it rewards those who are steady and sober, and who may be rigidly systematic at the expense of creativity.

Statistically, B students do better in business than A students. Jobs, Gates and Buffet all took risks that paid off but the corporate world pays executives to minimize risk and to guarantee profits. It is a different skill set and perhaps a different personality type that does well in corporations. But outside of the government jobs, most people don't get paid to screw up.

Rich and smart are not mutually exclusive.

[Cyrano]

9. Romney didn't make his wealth by screwing up

It's just that he sucks at everything else.

And the same is true of many (not all) of the corporate executives whom I came to know. This didn't make them bad people. Merely clueless ones.

And some of the smartest people I've ever met aren't rich.

[raouldukelives]

11. From my briefest of stints in corporate America.

What you say mirrors my sentiments completely. I have never in my life met more self obsessed and deluded individuals. To the point some of them couldn't even be who they were. Being an outspoken liberal isn't the greatest of assets in some environments and that was one for sure. To the point that the few who agreed with me in private would be too afraid to have my back in public. Too timid to actually stand by the courage of their convictions because of the lack of prestige it would give them in the boardroom or the loss of a choice parking spot. At that point I could see it was game over. For them at least.