Are CEOs Born Leaders? Lessons from Traits of a Million Individuals [pdf]

hbs.edu

2 pointssamaysharma3 comments

A bit of an odd paper. It could have been titled "Are smarter and taller 18 year olds more successful when they turn 50?".

> CEOs have higher cognitive and non-cognitive ability scores and are taller than typical members of the population.

The authors don't seem to consider wealth as a critical factor here.

Here's my hypothesis. CEOs usually come from higher income families. These families were provided with better education and sustenance over generations, thus these CEOs benefit from these advantages.

Amazing, families taking care of their offspring down the line, those are good people right there.

Wouldn’t you want great success for your offspring? Wouldn’t you try to ensure it, by educating them in the best possible way?

I think you are missing the point here: inherited wealth and status are very obviously factors that haven't been properly considered in the paper, and both play a role in being "more educated" and even "taller" than average.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com