Leadership’s a bitch: why the nice ones really do come last

Researchers from the Kellogg School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, US, found that kind, generous and selfless types might be well-liked, but they were also seen to be less suitable for leadership roles.

The study found that aggressive, selfish types were seen to be strong, “alpha” personalities and more desirable as leaders. Altruistic people – while usually the best liked – were perceived as weak and gullible.

The researchers claim that the reason for this is, as humans, we’re wired to respond to dominance.

“On a subconscious level this is the conclusion people are coming to: kindness equals weakness,” says Dr Robert Livingston, co-author of the study.