ABSTRACT
Common sense tells us that leadership requires such “cognitive resources” as intelligence, experience, and technical knowledge. This is the basis for administering admission tests and interviews by military academies and other organizations, and for requesting detailed information about the candidate’s previous work history, intellectual abilities, and technical expertise. The basic assumption is that leaders will make effective use of their abilities and other attributes for which they are hired. However, we have known for many years (e.g., Stogdill, 1948; Ghiselli, 1963; Fiedler, 1970) that such “cognitive resources” as intellectual abilities, expertise, and experience by themselves do not predict leadership performance to any appreciable degree (e.g., Bass, 1990; Fiedler, 1970, Fiedler & Garcia, 1987, Ghiselli, 1963).
