"Why insensitive bosses make more sense"
Posted by
Loyola
Feb 15 '10, 10:30
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"According to Moulton, the great thing about being insensitive is that it �lets you sleep when others can�t�. I seized on this remark and put it together with something that Lord Browne had said to me the previous week, when he�d let slip that, in 40 years at BP, he hadn�t lost one night�s sleep because of work. If you are the sort of person who loses sleep, you can�t be a CEO, he said.
By combining Moulton and Browne, I get this syllogism. CEOs must sleep. Insensitivity is vital for sleep. Therefore, CEOs should be insensitive.
Hand in hand with insensitivity goes denial. If you aren�t born insensitive you can acquire it by learning how to deny pesky feelings that get in the way. In fact, confidence comes as a result of denying the likelihood of failure.
Denial comes in handy not just for people destined for the top but for all workers. It is necessary to be in a state of mild denial before you get to work in the morning. True thoughts such as �this is pointless� or �it doesn�t matter if I do this or not�, must be resolutely ignored.
I�m not arguing that emotional intelligence is altogether a bad thing. It is lovely in a friend, and may arguably be good in a spouse. In a boss what is needed is not to be out-and-out emotionally stupid, but mildly emotionally dyslexic."
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