Written by a human, for humans, always.
If you talk to most people about leaders...
Most will tell you that leaders fall into one of two categories.
One perspective says that they are intelligent individuals...
Seeking to improve the world around them for everyone.
Another perspective says that they are bandits...
Individuals who use and abuse others for their own personal gain.
And...
There are individuals who fall into either category...
But the vast majority of leaders...
Fall into neither category.
In reality...
Most leaders...
Including many who appear very successful...
Are actually stupid.
Now, let me explain what I mean when I say "intelligent", "bandit", and "stupid", because in this context they mean something specific.
These ideas come from an essay called "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity", written by Carlo Cipolla.
In his essay, he created a chart with four categories of people...
(Note: all categorizations like this are purposefully designed to generalize, and never capture humans perfectly. Rather, they are a framework to come to "an" understanding, but will always have flaws.)
The four categories are created by two scales...
Whether the person in question benefits or loses from their actions...
And...
Whether others benefit or lose from the actions of the person in question.
If the person in question benefits from their actions and others benefit...
They are "intelligent".
If the person in question loses from their actions, but others do benefit...
They are "helpless".
If the person in question benefits from their actions, but others lose...
They are "bandits"
If the person in question loses from their actions, and others lose...
They are "stupid".
Now, according to Cipolla's second rule, these categorizations are independent of any other characterization...
Including race, gender, income, education level, whether they believe they are good people, and more.
So you could have billionaires with doctoral degrees who are stupid...
And you could have individuals below the poverty line who never finished primary school who are intelligent...
And vice versa.
This is also where we begin to see where most people believe leaders fall into...
If the leader is successful but appears to be at others' expense...
They are bandits.
If the leader is successful and appears to make others successful...
They are intelligent.
But here is what most people fail to consider in this breakdown...
What does it mean to "benefit" or "lose"?
When most people are thinking about this...
They are primarily considering one specific factor...
Money.
The leader is intelligent because they are making money and others are making money...
Or...
The leader is a bandit because they are making money, but others are struggling financially.
But here is the assumption underlying both...
The leader is benefiting because they are obtaining money...
But...
Is that actually true?
The reality is that if money is the only factor you are considering in this...
You have an extremely shallow perspective of what it means to be "intelligent" or a "bandit".
The truth...
Is that when we consider all factors of what it means to live a good human life...
Most leaders are stupid.
Maybe they are gaining money...
But it is not making their lives any better.
Money, itself, is not a determinant of character.
You can be a virtuous individual with a lot of money...
And you can be a wicked individual with a lot of money.
Money does not create character...
It only reveals and amplifies character.
What is the character that most often becomes revealed and amplified with money?
Stupidity...
Actions and behaviors that harm not only others...
But themselves.
The intentions may be to cause others to gain or lose...
But most actions...
End up causing the person acting to lose themselves...
Often in ways they are unaware of.
Realize...
The result of whether someone is stupid or not in this model is not dependent on their intentions...
It is dependent on their actual results...
Which is why most leaders are neither intelligent nor bandits...
Most leaders are stupid.
This is taken into account with Cipolla's first fundamental law of stupidity...
Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
So often...
Stupid people support other stupid people in the effort to deter supporting different stupid people...
All at the expense of causing harm to everyone around them.
If we are being truly honest...
Most people fall into the "stupid" or "helpless" categories...
Few individuals are actually successful enough to truly become "bandits", and fewer still make any significant progress to become "intelligent".
To actually become "intelligent"...
You need to have wisdom and to understand the long-term consequences of actions...
Be able to see where weaknesses exist and create systems that would prevent those weaknesses from being exploited...
Intentionally by "bandits" or unintentionally by "stupidity".
But...
This is rarely what we see happen.
What happens more frequently...
Is that leaders believe they are either "intelligent" or a "bandit"...
Some people will agree or disagree...
Then leaders will enact plans that they believe will benefit themselves...
Either at the loss or gain of others as well...
But the final result...
Is that everyone loses...
Including the leaders...
Making them land firmly in the "stupid" category.
The final result of "stupidity" is not always a matter of money alone...
Although frequently, money is lost...
But often the losses are in opportunities, trust, stress, mistakes, systems that are easier to exploit, innovation, morale, and more.
Even if there is money gained...
There are long-term consequences that end up proving leaders' decisions to be "stupid"...
Causing others and themselves vastly more harm than they realize...
Intentionally or unintentionally.
Which brings us to two other laws outlined by Cipolla...
People always underestimate the damaging powers of "stupid" individuals...
And...
A "stupid" person is the most dangerous type of person.
Why does this happen?
Most "stupid" individuals believe themselves to be either "intelligent" or "bandits"...
Made worse and bolder by other "stupid" people who are sycophantic...
Supporting and encouraging everything that is causing harm...
Making the harm worse for everyone...
While simultaneously making it vastly more difficult for truly "intelligent" people to make progress...
Because the results of "stupid" individuals continually make things more difficult for everyone...
And the few individuals who can actually accomplish being "bandits" successfully are ready to exploit the "stupidity" that is occurring...
Rarely ever being caught because their actions and movements become covered by others' "stupidity".
These are the lasting consequences.
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