\Some incompetent managers get ahead due to their overconfidence or narcissistic traits, as discussed in Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? Likewise, some individuals can get ahead through their powerful connections, political skills, or purely by some luck theory can’t explain. Unsurprisingly, this is even more common in political elections, where voters are not always skilled enough to evaluate candidates’ potential (or unwilling to scrutinize them properly) than in corporations. Even more intriguing is that it’s not uncommon for individuals who perform well in their jobs as individual contributors to fail to perform as expected when given managerial or leadership responsibilities, much like great individual athletes can disappoint after retiring and transitioning to team coaches or managers.
