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It’s natural that leadership positions often go to employees who raise their hands for the opportunity—but HR leaders should beware of the overeager and overconfident candidate.
A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that people who take on a management role thanks to their own self-promotion, rather than being chosen for a position of power, actually performed worse than their peers, writes my colleague Natalie McCormick.
Researchers split a group of managers into two categories: those who “self-promoted” themselves, or proactively expressed interest in becoming managers, and “lottery” managers, or those who were hand-picked to lead. Each person was then asked to lead teams to solve puzzles over a three hour period.
More than half of self-promoted managers described their performance as “better” or “much better” than average, but they actually performed worse than their lottery manager counterparts. As for lottery managers, only 38% rated themselves the same way, despite their superior performance. Notably, researchers found that of the two groups, lottery managers did a better job reading other people, and had better social skills.
Ben Weidmann, an author for the study and director of research at Harvard Kennedy School’s Skills Lab, tells Fortune the research is still preliminary and needs to be tested in different ways. But it may point to an important sociological trend that every seasoned boss recognizes: People who are overeager to be managers may make for poor leaders.
Instead, he recommends that C-suite leaders take a more holistic approach to promotions, and consider those who haven’t raised their hand for the role.
“I think it would be a step in the right direction if people were able to cast the net much more widely and do these broad skill assessments to see prospectively who might be good managers,” he says.
Azure Gilman
azure.gilman@fortune.com
Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
A machinist union is calling for a full inquiry into the deaths of two Atlanta airport workers who were killed by an exploding airplane tire while doing maintenance work. The Guardian
Ford Motor took “a fresh look” at its DEI policies, considering the social and legal environment around the issue, and will not have quotas when it comes to working with minority dealerships. NBC News
The Labor Department says there was a technical glitch that hindered the U.S. government’s payroll report, and that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will strengthen its data release protocols. Bloomberg
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Gloom and doom. A new report shows that Gen Z college graduates are increasingly pessimistic about landing a job, and their anxiety may stem from the current state of politics, student loans, and AI. —Chloe Berger
Brutal honesty. Klarna’s CEO says he hopes that AI will reduce his company’s headcount down to 2,000 employees, cutting 1,800 current workers, because they “can do much more with less.” —Ryan Hogg
Pressure cooker. Nvidia employees may be extremely wealthy due to their vested shares, but it comes with a price—some staffers say shouting in meetings isn’t uncommon and they work until 2:00 a.m. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
