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[NHarmonic.]

Success for me would be being able to live doing what i love and with the people who are close to me. Fame, power, fortune and name are so overrated nowadays.

 

[Trojita]

Thread title should have really emphasized that this was about business leaders the OP viewed as heroes. That "world" specifically fosters and rewards that mindset. But even then this level of success is one out of millions.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Depending on how you define "being an asshole", yes, to some degree you have to, because you have to stand your ground sometimes to reach certain objectives, and that will be seen by some as being an asshole.

However, you can be civil about it, and keep it to a strict minimum, and still be successful; it is however far easier to be a complete asshole (less stress, less time spent explaining things to people, more time to do things you have to do), hence why a lot of managers are assholes.

 

[Lmo911]

You don't have to be an asshole to be successful, but being successful in and of itself can create a bubble that skews perspective.

If you always get your way, I don't care how much of a saint you started out as, you will eventually come crashing down like a spoiled child when you run into someone who says "no."

 

[moai]

is that thing with kg real?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

To reach the level of CEO, you have to be 1) very assertive (which can make you seem like an asshole depending on the perspective), and 2) be willing the have an incredibly skewed work/life ratio. Most people who wouldn't qualify as "assholes" probably say "Spending time with my family/friends is more important than working 14 hours a day."

 

[ahoyhoy]

There's room on the top they're telling you still.
But first you must learn how to smile while you kill.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

To reach the level of CEO, you have to be 1) very assertive (which can make you seem like an asshole depending on the perspective), and 2) be willing the have an incredibly skewed work/life ratio. Most people who wouldn't qualify as "assholes" probably say "Spending time with my family/friends is more important than working 14 hours a day."

If your not white and male these rules can backfire on you hard, especially being assertive.

 

[Cocaloch]

To accomplish truly 'transformative' societal change requires the level or autonomy (and sometimes money) that these particular people enjoy.

Part of your problem is that you think individuals do this. They really don't, at best individuals can ride and slightly direct social forces.

 

[Coriolanus]

Off the top of my head:

Lin Manuel Miranda and Terry Crews

Dude played defensive end well enough to get an athletic scholarship. Safe bet he mangled some bodies.

 

[Ruddles72]

Are there examples out there of business leaders in a large industry that have accomplished what they have without being assholes and building their empires on the backs of other people?

I can do no better than quote Machiavelli.

"Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. . . . Love endures by a bond which men, being scoundrels, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present."

In short, it's not impossible to be a great leader by being loved, but it's generally easier and more certain to have people fear you. AKA, be a scary asshole, you'll get your own way in life and be a big success!

 

[moltonasty]

Success is subjective. If your only motivation in life is to make money, then chances are you're already an asshole

 

[cubicle47b]

Tim Duncan?

 

[PSqueak]

People have flaws.

Celebrities are people.

Remember this.

They're people, not gods.

 

[fredrancour]

Dude played defensive end well enough to get an athletic scholarship. Safe bet he mangled some bodies.

that's a case of "there's levels to being an asshole."

if a bunch of dudes seek financial success via a dangerous sport, the dudes they're playing against aren't really that rude for participating even if everybody's doing physical harm to each other.

if only one promotion exists and you get it, you aren't really much of an asshole even though you just denied that opportunity to others.

if you mess up at work and then pass off the blame to somebody else, now you're starting to do things it's worth feeling bad about. i guess the sport equivalent to crossing the line is... deliberately stretching the boundary of foul and assault?