Have a bad manager? Science explains why.

Identifying effective managers requires moving beyond traditional hiring practices like interviews and promoting top individual contributors, which often rely on bias and overconfidence. Labor economist David Deming demonstrates that individuals who aggressively seek leadership roles frequently overestimate their abilities and lack necessary emotional perceptiveness. Instead, high-performing managers consistently exhibit strong economic decision-making and fluid intelligence, specifically in resource allocation and creative problem-solving. Data from a large grocery store chain confirms that managers scoring high on these objective metrics significantly increase store sales and profits. Relying on an individual's eagerness to lead as a proxy for skill often leads to poor management outcomes, whereas objective testing identifies candidates who are better equipped to coordinate teams and drive organizational success.