Peter Sorgenfrei argues substance matters more than style, using bosses as an example. He cites the Peter Principle, where people get promoted beyond their competence, and suggests helping underprepared leaders develop into effective ones rather than resenting them.
Style versus substance. So here I am in my house recording a video on a phone with not perfect lighting and probably not in the right outfit. I don't care much about style. I'm more worried about substance, more worried about communicating what I think is important to communicate. And it's the same way with bosses in general. Sometimes you have a boss who's very stylish and sort of does certain things in a certain way. And other times you have somebody who's more substantial, who is less worried about appearances and maybe actually is a better leader in the business. When that happens, just remind yourself of the Peter Principle, which I think, of course, is unfortunately coined, but it basically states that you get promoted one level above where your competence is. So sometimes we meet bosses who are not quite ready to lead, And our job is to take that style that got them to where they are and help them develop that into a substance so that they can be the leaders that they set out to be.
