The Tom Brady Principle: Don’t Promote Your Best People

After Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl in 2001, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft promoted Tom to General Manager because they wanted to see him grow with the organization. In the corporate world, it is known as talent management.

Research from Ernest O’Boyle and Herman Aguinis shows that high performers have much higher levels of impact than average performers.

A 2016 McKinsey report laid out that only 40% of women and 56% of men desired to become a top executive in a company. It could be because the climb is exhausting since the range of expertise and skills has expanded. It means that today's leaders need to meet an almost impossible set of requirements.

We are requiring today’s leaders to be the best player on the team, the coach, general manager, and CEO. Instead of attracting people who want to lead, we attract the narcissists that are motivated by money, power, and status.