Are We Stereotyping Our Leaders?
Although, leadership is not a position but behaviours, it is expected that the head of a team or an organisation displays these behaviours more often. Hence, they are commonly called Leaders. The heads of organisations (Leaders) become role models and inspire many to be like them. However, we also know that research has shown that height and salary of a CEO are positively co-related. How about behaviours then. Are there certain types of Leaders that we prefer more than others?
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0 Yes, I believe we are stereotyping our leaders. Let me take the example of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni to illustrate this point.
Recently, there has been lot of discussion on Virat Kohli stepping down as Captain of Royal Challenges Bangalore after the conclusion of the ongoing IPL season, and as T20 Captain of India after the ICC T20 World Cup in Oct-Nov 2021. Also, for the ICC T20 World Cup, MS Dhoni has been appointed as a Mentor for the Indian Cricket Team. We all acknowledge that MS Dhoni has been a very successful Captain of India in all formats of the game, and most believe that he was by far the best ever Captain on Indian Cricket Team. However, statistics show otherwise. See attached image.
For all captains who have captained India in more than 50 matches, Virat Kohli’s win record is better than MS Dhoni’s. And better by a wide margin. But MS Dhoni is considered to be a better captain. And now is going to help Virat Kohli try and win the next ICC T20 World Cup!! Why is this so?
I do believe that we like leaders like MS Dhoni more than leaders like Virat Kohli. We have a stereotype for leaders. Leaders who “appear” to be calm and collected in crisis, who do not show anger when a team member makes a mistake, who “appear” in control all the time, comes across as humble (MS Dhoni), is preferred over a leader who is animated, who shows emotions openly, and may come across as “aggressive” (Virat Kohli). And in making this choice, we may not pay too much attention to “performance”.
By stereotyping our Leaders, we may be giving some leaders more credit than what is really due, simply because we like them more than another leader, who may be more capable. And this is a real problem.
2870 I think ‘stereotyping’ is a part of natural human tendency of ‘simplification’
We do this naturally in our routine purchases by shortlisting brands we have identified as ‘good for us ‘ post initial search & then keep repeating them unless disrupted by new factor – to save the agony of undertaking a fresh search , in every purchase
We simplify our work through setting up processes & rules , rather than reinventing wheel every time
‘Stereotyping’ is similarly simplifying our process of ‘ understanding’ a person , a nationality , a group , an event , an aspect etc – which is actually an advantage of stereotyping , in a way that it helps us get a ‘ broad’ picture – a directional outline – this helps us get a feel – what to expect , especially of the previously unknown . This is about seeking ( common minimum ) unity among diversity
The flip side of it is the danger of following into a trap of mistaking all to be identical photocopies – to be rigid / inflexible in our recognising & allowing for diversity among unity – now allowing for individualities among commonalities – Worse side effect of it is to pre implant our biases on individuals , even prior exposure to individuals
This happens if we mistake direction for the destination
In sum I think – stereotyping helps in drawing an ‘ outline’ of the object we wish to know more about – though we need to be alert enough to use it only as a ( default ) template & not pre impose details of features of an individual on to the template , till we meet her/ him
