Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has published a very interesting article where they analyze whether good managers are born or made.

Peter Cappelli, Wharton management professor and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources, states that the easiest approach is the Peter Principle: giving a management role to the best performer in the role below. However, the way the next manager is chosen is, by definition, the first problem. Basically, Cappelli explains that the competitiveness to win that often makes an individual the best performer is directly at odds with the requirements of managing other people and trying to get them to succeed.

Therefore, the question would be: what does it take to be a good manager?

Virginia J. Vanderslice, founding partner and president of Praxis Consulting Group and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania’s Organizational Dynamics program, says that, even though leadership can be learned, there are a few core qualities that a person comes with that are really challenging to strengthen. The most important one, “is a personal, deep level of self-confidence (…) a deep sense of personal security.”

A deep level of self-confidence must not be mistaken with narcissism, which is a characteristic that makes people have an elevated sense of self-worth for which they value themselves as inherently better than others. Furthermore, narcissism tends to have a really negative effect on people’s managerial skills.

Meanwhile, Cappelli highlights the importance of training leadership and the willingness to work with and through others.

Michael Useem, Wharton management professor and director of Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management, states that in order to become a manager, a person needs “willingness to work with ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability”, as well as “coming to appreciate — and then manage — the great diversity in human motivation and purpose, which requires becoming a lifelong student of human nature.” He points out that mastering what it takes to manage people is extremely difficult and demands serious commitment.

However, as it was previously mentioned, a large number of firms opt to reward employees with management positions. And the truth is that they contribute to the problem as the set of skills that good performers possess usually have nothing to do with management.

Are there any alternatives to offering management roles as a reward? Vanderslice suggests one: a master technician track. The basic idea is that people who are really good at their job can pursue further development of their technical or professional skills and receive recognition for their accomplishments. The goal is to retain great professionals who are very good at their jobs but who would not be successful managers.

The full article is definitely a must-read. You can access it by clicking here.