Everyday when I go over blogs and news, I come across a good number of postings ranting about incompetent bosses.  Although you don’t read it as much ( its not popular when the manager complains about bad employees in public, is it?  After all, the reason you are the boss is invariably you get to enjoy the fruits of your employees’ labor, as well as answer for their shortcomings), in private circles when you talk among fellow businessmen and entrepreneurs, you hear a lot of stories about how inutile employees could not get things done, or messed up, sometimes comically, sometimes disastrously.

It makes me muse — what destroys capital value faster?  A company with a bad boss but competent employees and a good system, or a company with a great boss, but with no system, and so-so employees?

I know popular management books will make it sound that a good manager is everything, and can make bad things work, but please do think about it for a while ….

Think about McDonalds and their over 30,000 stores.  I am sure some of their store managers are wanting, but the system makes it work.

Think about an entrepreneur who we know is a great manager, and have great success in venture one, but failed miserably in venture two.  The timing, and the people he worked with, did not work out.

The omni-capable entrepreneur is overrated, and there is only so much even an excellent manager can do.  What do you think?