Power Or Poison?

Via Times of India, Will Manmohan Singh step down from PM's post?

The story tells of his immense dejection over finding himself alone on key issues.

Recently, we were speaking to an industrial psychologist about corporate leadership. He said, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is introverts who make the best CEOs. Why, we asked? Because, he said, in the most difficult decisions with large implications, the CEO is all alone. He needs to be comfortable in his solitude -- something that comes naturally to introverts.

We think he was on to something here. The same applies, we think, to leadership of nations.

Of course, it's real hard to get elected as an introvert. For those who do emerge from the gruelling and uber-social election process, the consequent leadership is less power, more poison -- the demands of their dream job conspiring against their very nature.

We had thought Dr. Singh might be different -- a soft spoken academic, his years of solitary reading may have better prepared him for the rigors of leadership. Now we know that was a false hope. This is bad news for India.