The Truth About Managing People, Third Edition

Truth 24. Experience Counts! Wrong!

Most of us accept the commonsense notion that experience is a valuable, even necessary, component for effective leadership. Voters, for instance, tend to believe that the jobs of U.S. senator or state governor prepare individuals to be effective U.S. presidents. Similarly, organizations buy into this notion when they carefully screen outside candidates for senior management positions on the basis of their experience. For that matter, have you ever filled out an employment application that didn’t ask about previous experience or job history? In many instances, experience is used as the single most important factor in hiring and promotion decisions. Well, here’s the surprising news: The evidence doesn’t support ...