This is super cynical and also kind of superficial from the perspective of an external observer. Yes, the more competitive the company, the more competitive th

This is super cynical and also kind of superficial from the perspective of an external observer. Yes, the more competitive the company, the more competitive the people who are in it. Good companies harness that competitive energy to bring out the best work from its employees. Employees who are competitive also want to be surrounded by other competitive employees both to feed that competitive need and also to learn and push themselves further. A competitive person never wants to be bored. Getting promoted is equivalent to influence. The higher up the ladder, the more influence one has, both from the top (closer to the decision makers) and the bottom (respect if IC, or mandate if a Manager). You can only cheat your way up so high without earning that influence. Also, each level up the ladder requires a whole new set of strategies to make it to the level above that. What I've seen in my career is that some of these so called "cheating" EMs, Directors and VPs got there during the early company because they were in the right place and right time to rise up quickly. However, they never last in that position for long. If they didn't have the genuine skill to become an influencer, after a few bad quarters, they will be asked to take the blame and lose their position. If they were acting in bad faith during their tenure and lost support from others they will also have a difficult time rising back up again.