The four items mentioned in your list regrettably happen to exist in many domains far beyond the engineering field. In my experience is always seems to boil down to focus – a person is either focused inwardly or outwardly. They either focus on self or on others, their work, or the impact of their work on others. Thanks for sharing Elliot.

Thanks for sharing the story…It's sad that so many bright people end-up unknowingly using their intelligence as a weapon against themselves. Always appreciate your insights Peter…

In the heyday of Bell Northern Research / Northern Telecom (later Nortel) there was a common saying about the scientists and engineers often promoted to leadership positions;

'You can educate 'em, but you can't train 'em"

The saying came from too many of their ilk, while definitely intelligent, in many cases genius, but with horrendous leadership skills.

a) Do, don't teach (no one else could do better)
b) Micromanage (Boss knows best – always)
c) Zero tolerance (if you can't keep up with my thinking – get out)
d) Blindness (an elegant engineering solution trumps all else)

In summary, I think that this is a curse that is often found in the scientific / technical communities where the individual that may have been the 'best engineer' – may not always transition into the 'best leader'

Thank you once again & regards,

Elliot

Thanks for the comment. Your observations about EQ is spot-on. Bonus points to those leaders who combine EQ and IQ with a strong dose of humility. Thanks Brian.

I once worked for someone who I consider to be extremely high on the "intellectual" intelligent scale but bankrupt when it came to emotional intelligence. He accomplished a lot of things in his young life but not near as many as he could have. It was very painful to watch and be part of it.

I hate to stereotype or generalize about intelligence and leadership, but my personal experience definitely supports your post and I think the short list at the end nails it.

Thanks.

You nailed it with both of these…Leadership without humility and a penchant for learning may be a lot of things, but it's not leadership. Following are a couple of related posts that those interested in the topics of humility and learning may find useful: http://www.n2growth.com/blog/humility-and-leaders… http://www.n2growth.com/blog/the-learning-ceo

For those of you not familiar with Artie, I've been following his work for sometime now. I'd highly recommend following him on Twitter (@ArtieDavis).

The subtleties of your insights are spot- on here, but the real gem is: "Stay low on the ladder of inference." Thanks for sharing the keen observations.

How's the book coming?