You’ve probably encountered managers you admire more for their technical skills than for their actual leadership skills.
Research: Do People Really Get Promoted to Their Level of Incompetence?
A study of 214 companies concludes the Peter Principle is real.
March 08, 2018
Summary.
According to the Peter Principle, organizations manage careers so that everyone “rises to the level of their incompetence.” To test how this theory might actually play out, a team of researchers examined sales managers and their employees in 214 firms. Sales is an ideal setting to test for the Peter Principle because, unlike other professional settings, it’s easy to identify high performing salespeople and managers. According to the data, the Peter Principle is real: the best salespeople were the ones who got promoted, but the better the salesperson, the worse they were at managing. To fix this problem, organizations must come up with other ways to reward their top performers, so they can continue to do what they’re best at.
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New!
HBR Learning
Performance Appraisal Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Performance Appraisal. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Take the pain out of employee reviews.