Short Take: Executives

Barbara Tuchman notes the "perfect and unblemished confidence" and "marvelous incapacity to admit error" of World War I leaders such as Joseph Joffre and Henry Wilson; their counterparts, of course, are the narcissistic CEOs of today. Having had prolonged unhappy dealings with one such, all I can say is that Tuchman wasn't exaggerating; I now know what it is like to be around someone who truly feels that they are God's gift. Not fun.