I think people should understand that they will learn more from a bad manager than a good manager. . . . When you have a bad manager you have to look at what's irritating you and say: "Would I do that? Would I make those choices? Would I talk to me that way? How would I do this?"
--Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo
In a recent Times interview, Carol Bartz was asked what business schools should teach more of. The above was one of her answers, and typical of her smart challenges to conventional wisdom. Although experiences of threat cause many to run for cover and take on the "fight, flight syndrome," recent research suggests that those with higher levels of emotional intelligence respond quite differently to those with low levels of emotional intelligence, like a bad boss.
Here's the syllogism:
Bosses with lower levels of emotional intelligence are jerks. John is a jerk. John has a lower level of emotional intelligence.
Higher emotional intelligence makes it possible for you to learn from jerks.