Let’s talk about that most persistent of boss myths: that the tougher they are, the more effective they are. This nonsense is related to the “strongman” myth in politics, which assumes that authoritarian leaders are somehow superior at getting things done. There’s that tired line about how Benito Mussolini, the brutal fascist dictator of Italy known as Il Duce, got the decrepit Italian trains to run on time. Except he didn’t. What worked so well in fascist Italy wasn’t the rail system; it was Mussolini’s propaganda machine.

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