This post was inspired by this video.
This video highlighted some behavioural traits that may be common across all these CEOs:
They make decisions reactively, seemingly based on bolstering their egos, as if trying to make up for some internal pack like poor self-esteem.
They make grandiose yet simplistic proclamations full of superlatives and hyperbole that do not stand up to scrutiny.
They say things that are simply too amazing to be true, and are often not true.
They exude a “do what I say, not what I do” mentality. Linked to this is a sense that they don’t operate in the real world and believe that they are above the rules.
They actively ignore experts, even when they have the resources to engage the best experts. And yet, this is not the mindset of true revolutionaries who innovate beyond the status quo with deep insight and genuine vision. There is a sense here that their belief in their own hubris renders them immune to fundamental realities like economics and physics.
The two powerful enablers for these CEOs are: an uncritical and fawning media that often lacks relevant domain knowledge in science, economics, politics; and a mass of equally uncritical dedicated sycophants.
It is unfortunate that these people have so much impact on our collective lives; impact that is clearly not merit-based, but rather fuelled by unhealthy ego.
