Slashdot Mirror


Why People Dislike Really Smart Leaders (scientificamerican.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Scientific American: Intelligence makes for better leaders -- from undergraduates to executives to presidents -- according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or legislative logjam requires cognitive oomph. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting. The researchers looked at 379 male and female business leaders in 30 countries, across fields that included banking, retail and technology. The managers took IQ tests (an imperfect but robust predictor of performance in many areas), and each was rated on leadership style and effectiveness by an average of eight co-workers. IQ positively correlated with ratings of leader effectiveness, strategy formation, vision and several other characteristics -- up to a point. The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120, which is higher than roughly 80 percent of office workers. Beyond that, the ratings declined. The researchers suggest the "ideal" IQ could be higher or lower in various fields, depending on whether technical versus social skills are more valued in a given work culture. The study's lead author, John Antonakis, a psychologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, suggests leaders should use their intelligence to generate creative metaphors that will persuade and inspire others -- the way former U.S. President Barack Obama did. "I think the only way a smart person can signal their intelligence appropriately and still connect with the people," Antonakis says, "is to speak in charismatic ways."

5 of 677 comments (clear)

  1. TL;DR version by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some people are dumb as shit and don't like you because they cannot comprehend the message you are attempting to convey.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  2. Well known: 2 sigma gap by bradley13 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "IQ positively correlated with ratings of leader effectiveness...The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120"

    If two people have an IQ difference of more than 2 sigma (2 standard deviations, or about 30 IQ points), it becomes very difficult for them to communicate with each other effectively.

    I would have this was pretty well-known and well accepted by now. TFA specifically looks at office workers of various types, so it's a good bet that the average worker will have an IQ in the 100-110 range. So a manager with an IQ of 120 is just enough smarter to do the job well, but not too smart to run into communications problems. A completely believable "sweet spot" for your typical office. But probably not for JPL or a construction site.

    If you get beyond 2 sigmas: For anything more than small talk, the smart person feels like they have to "dumb down" everything they say, and even then it's hard to get across anything complex. Meanwhile the lower IQ person realizes that they're being "talked down to", that they are being seen as dumb, and they resent it.

    --
    Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
  3. Re: They talk funny by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Informative

    He was smart enough to out-maneuver Bill and Hillary Clinton to secure the Democratic nomination.

    Maybe. Or maybe the DNC conlagomarate thought "gee, it sure would appeal to our core voting group if we ran a minority candidate", and Barack happened to be the right guy with the right skin colour at the right time.

  4. Re:Paradox of intelligence by Gaxx · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nope.. I'm afraid that thinkwaitfast was correct. It's a republic (a representative one) rather than a democracy - at least in the technical sense. Two things keep it from being a democracy:

    1. Not everyone has the right to vote.
    2. There is a constitutional limit placed upon the majority will. As a result, the government representing the majority vote is unable to necessarily enact their will if doing so violates the constitution.

    The differences are subtle, though, in modern democratic republics:

    https://www.diffen.com/differe...
    https://keydifferences.com/dif...

    --
    -- Gaxx
  5. Re:Maybe it's the smart leaders who dislike the pe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    IQ is measured in standard deviation based units, not an absolute "smartz" units.

    15 IQ is 1 standard deviation, so 70 IQ is 2 standard deviations below the median.

    If you have a relatively small number of actually brain damaged people (a few percent of the population), they'll "fill in" the slots at below average IQ. 70 IQ is 2 standard deviations below the mean. If actual large-scale brain damage (congentital, chemical or injury based) covers 2% of the population, then that level of brain damage becomes 70 IQ. If we go and fix those problems, then 70 IQ gets redefined to be whatever the lowest (on the scale measured) 2% of the population scores at.

    Such changes would have next to no impact on who scores at 130 IQ (a fraction of a point), while causing massive swings at the below average IQ range (10s or more points).

    In short, IQ is not space where you should be comparing distances over non-overlapping ranges.

    160 IQ is 99.997th percentile -- 1 in 30,000 -- a kid in your school board
    145 IQ is 99.87th percentile -- 1 in 750 -- a kid in your elementary school
    130 IQ is 98th percentile -- 1 in 50 -- a kid in your grade 3 class.
    115 IQ is 84th percentile -- 1 in 6 -- a kid in the row in your classroom
    100 IQ is 50th percentile -- 1 in 2 -- median
    85 IQ is 16th perentile -- 1 in 6 -- a kid in the row in your classroom
    70 IQ is 2nd percentile -- 1 in 50 -- a kid in your grade 3 class
    55 IQ is 0.13th percentile -- 1 in 750 -- a kid in your elementary school
    40 IQ is 99.997th percentile -- 1 in 30,000 -- a kid in your school board