6. The Improbability of Being a Complete Leader

This chapter is in two parts. The first part describes three arguments why logically, empirically and psychologically it is improbable that an individual leader will be extremely good at all aspects of leadership. Not only does common sense suggest the improbability of this, awareness of the facets that make up personality and the evidence from many thousands of interviews we have conducted with top executives support this view. The second part describes three different types of jobs and three journeys that lead people to them. It provides further support for the contention that the various elements of leadership require different skills and are likely to appeal to different sorts of people. If we are right, the implications are profound.