January 19, 2020
Why ‘Alpha Dogs’ Make Poor Leaders In Startups
The notion of the “alpha” personality, identified long ago by experts in animal behavior, remains a useful term for a human type that is all too familiar: an unusually assertive, aggressive person with a strong need to dominate a group. They’re usually thought of as male, but women can qualify, too. Some people see the alpha as the paradigm of the good leader: hard-charging, decisive and highly competitive. It has even been estimated that 70% of senior executives are alpha males. Maybe, but alphas—male or female— make less effective entrepreneurial leaders.