This column is written from the viewpoint of investing success, but much of it applies to the political sphere and to life generally. (Emphasis below is mine)

https://financialpreparedness.substack.com/p/barking-up-the-wrong-tree

And here's something to be mindful of when investing. Barker writes, “But confidence can also be extremely dangerous...because [it] feels good. [It] makes us feel powerful. But plenty of research shows that when we feel powerful, it can be a slippery slope to denial and hubris.”

Barker quotes Richard Tedlow, a professor at Harvard Business School: “...what is striking about the dozens of companies and CEOs I have studied [for four decades] is the large number of them who have made mistakes that could and should have been avoided.... These mistakes resulted from individuals denying reality.” This is especially dangerous when you surround yourself with people who just tell you what you want to hear.

Barker writes that “Overconfidence is usually the mistake of experts, and we do give them a lot of power and authority....incompetence is frustrating, but the people guilty of it usually can't screw things up that bad. The people guilty of overconfidence can do much more damage.” Yes. This reminds me of the book Hormegeddon: How Too Much of a Good Thing Can Lead to Disaster, which I recommend.

Now here's an interesting metric I plan to add to my massive stock-tracking spreadsheet: “Want to know which CEOs will run their company into the ground? Count how many times they use the word 'I' in their annual letter to shareholders. This is what [a] financial analyst discovered when she evaluated leaders and how their companies performed. Me, me, me means death, death, death for corporations. But when hubris takes over and you're self-absorbed, you can't see straight. What's worse is you're not aware of it. You're blind to your own blindness.”