A’s, B’s and C’c

There is a common saying in business that A’s hire other A’s, but B’s hire C’s. Managers who are outstanding tend to recruit outstanding people, but managers who are less than outstanding are threatened by outstanding people and tend to hire people who aren’t even as good as they are, and who therefore don’t threaten to show up their deficiencies. David Ogilvy had it right when he said “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

This doesn’t just happen in business of course. It is a common feature of all human institutions. Only people who are truly confident of their own abilities are comfortable around other people whose abilities are exceptional. That may explain why so many leaders surround themselves with lesser lights who don’t threaten them.

But just occasionally, perhaps when the stars are in the right conjunction, a really bright manager will manage to assemble a group of really bright people, and then wondrous things happen for a while!