New Delhi, May 5 -- In every sphere of human endeavour-be it business, politics, administration, academia or civil society-we operate under a quiet but pervasive assumption: those who rise to the top do so because they are the most competent, the most suited for leadership. This belief is so deeply embedded in our collective consciousness that we seldom pause to question it. Yet, a dispassionate examination reveals that the upper echelons of any field are not exclusively populated by the best and brightest. Instead, they mirror the broader population-some are exceptional, many are mediocre and a troubling number are woefully inadequate or even harmful. My last column was about this.

This phenomenon is not merely a matter of individual sh...