DICKS: Do you need to be one to be a successful leader?
Max Joseph3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2018-2020
2.2M views · 9 years ago · commentary · evergreen
Filmmaker Max Joseph's 35-minute video essay asks whether you have to be a jerk to be a successful leader. It draws on Adam Grant's givers and takers, Robert Greene and famous demanding directors.
HN recommends it as a thoughtful critique of the great-leader-as-jerk myth in threads on difficult bosses.
45:51Simon Sinek: Why Leaders Eat Last
99U
9.2M views • 12 years ago
18:02Start with why -- how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound
TEDx Talks
13.8M views • 17 years ago
10:48RSA ANIMATE: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
Royal Society of Arts
20.2M views • 16 years ago
15:01Simon Sinek on Millennials in the Workplace
David Crossman
13.8M views • 10 years ago
3:42Passion | David Mitchell's SoapBox
David Mitchell's Soapbox
954K views • 16 years ago
18:35How Great Leaders Inspire Action | Simon Sinek | TED
TED
22.9M views • 16 years ago
12:04Why Being Delusional is a Superpower
Veritasium
15.2M views • 6 years ago
1:16:23The Psychology of Human Misjudgement - Charlie Munger Full Speech
Vikas Ojha
142K views • 6 years ago
9:41MindSpring Presents: "Greatness" by David Marquet
MindSpring
2.7M views • 13 years ago
3:54Why 90% of Managers Are GARBAGE (The Professional Lie) | Steve Jobs
Evan Carmichael
4.6M views • 11 years ago
2:58First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy
Derek Sivers
8.8M views • 16 years ago
9:46Avoid These Words (And Not Just at Work)
Adam Savage’s Tested
524K views • 2 years ago
5:42How to start a movement | Derek Sivers
TED
2.2M views • 16 years ago
6:59Mr. Startup: Paul Graham, founder of YCombinator, and his "no asshole" rule
Robert Scoble
102K views • 16 years ago
1:16:23The Psychology of Human Misjudgement - Charlie Munger Full Speech
BuffettMungerWisdom
1.4M views • 13 years ago
3:21A real person, a lot like you
Derek Sivers
467K views • 15 years ago
16:52A kinder, gentler philosophy of success | Alain de Botton
TED
2.1M views • 17 years ago
1:00:42High Altitude Leadership | Chris Warner | Talks at Google
Talks at Google
39K views • 17 years ago
31:56David Heinemeier Hansson at Startup School 08
startupschool
202K views • 18 years ago
4:22Interview with an Agile Coach - Sprint1
Kai Lentit
523K views • 4 years ago
4 comments from Hacker News
This reminds me of a short documentary called "DICKS: Do you need to be one to be a successful leader?" ▶ this video tldr; You don't have to be a dick, but being a strong and passionate leader will result in making tough choices that will inevitably not make everyone happy. tldr 2; People don't want a boss who is a friend, they want a leader with a vision.
I think the writer is correct: there is a meme out there that in order to be great, a leader, a trailblazer etc you have to become inevitably the arsehole. So much so, that arseholism is not just tolerated but celebrated. I wonder why the author did not feel persuaded to mention our current poster child of arseholism, the quintessential kind: Donald Trump. Here's a good video essay on the same subject by a filmmaker, Max Joseph: ▶ this video
Being pleasant is one of my personal rules/goals for life. But it is interesting to analyze great leaders who have been jerks. This 30 minute Youtube documentary on the topic is very interesting: "DICKS: Do you need to be one to be a successful leader?" ▶ this video
For anyone who's curious, here's the best video I've found that breaks apart the idea of an "asshole": ▶ this video Essentially, people can be dicks and non-dicks, while simultaneously being givers or takers. Nobody likes a taker, even if they're nice, because that person doesn't help one grow. On the other hand, someone can be a real dick, but in a "giving" way that helps achieve a better outcome for both individuals. In the case of Jobs, one could argue that his personality was justified not only because great work came out of it, but also because the people doing that work became the best version of themselves in the process. If someone is capable of great work and they produce good work, there's a certain kindness to telling them that's not acceptable. But saying the exact same thing to someone who's less capable can be mean.