Leadership

Read a great article in Time magazine entitled: "Why Bosses Tend To Be Blowhards"
The summary is that "A new study shows leadership is often just loudership: big mouths take charge."
The study was led by the University of California: Berkeley. The study found in a group setting, the folks who spoke out the most often and the loudest were viewed as individuals with a high degree of leadership, smarts and creativity. When given basic aptitude tests, these same individuals did not score any better (and often worse) than their quieter counterparts.

It's interesting, but then again, isn't it a quality of leadership that the person has the "courage" (or blind stupidity?) to speak out regardless of the consequences, often not letting oneself be encumbered by facts or truth?

We see it a lot where people take charge just because they are visible and rather than saying the "right thing" they say their version of the right thing and then convince others of it's correctness (Rush Limbaugh comes to mind). No offense Rush. My point is Rush picks a side of an argument and does not attempt to see the other side and then convinces listeners there is only one side. It is his goal and he does it well.

Not a surprising study, but a nice one to read because I tend towards introverted behavior in a large group and often don't get very vocal. It seems like options are to either break that behavior or get used to finishing second (or third or fourth...somewhere other than first).

Alternatively, one could seek out an environment where one felt comfortable being very vocal. For example, if you grew up building boats and building boats was your passion then I would suspect you would feel more comfortable being very vocal in a boat-building situation thus ensuring your promotion and inevitable leadership role.

All the more reason, perhaps, to seek your passion?