4 ms·

Lafayette was a major general in the American revolution at 19, he had plenty of leadership skills in his 20’s. Not saying it’s _common_ but historically it see

Lafayette was a major general in the American revolution at 19, he had plenty of leadership skills in his 20’s. Not saying it’s _common_ but historically it seems at least possible.

ZephyrBlu 4y ago
A title is meaningless without context. Knowing he was a major general does not tell me anything about his leadership skills. Often at companies (And I presume in other situations as well), people are thrust into higher level positions purely because they happened to be in the right place at the right time and someone above them left.
- mattnewton 4y ago
  I’m saying he had the skills because after he was thrust into the position, he lead military operations, then left for France to convince them to contribute more to the American revolution (which they did). Maybe that doesn’t count as true leadership to you but I know it would clear the bar at any company I worked at.
  - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
    Realizing how often people exaggerate their own abilities and working in a "good" company seeing how Senior+ devs operate, I no longer trust any claim of someones skill unless it's by someone who I already trust or there is sufficient context and evidence to support the claim. Too many people/companies claiming to be "world class" or whatever when they are above average at best. I have no knowledge of Lafayette (Not American) and no context or understanding what he did, so my default judgement is that his skill is exaggerated.
    - nl 4y ago
      I'm not American, but Lafayette was certainly successful at achieving his military and political goals. It's worth noting he had been trained in a French military academy for officers since 11, and was commissioned as an officer in the French Musketeers at 14. Additionally he was extremely well connected in the French nobility and clearly had the expectation that men would follow him. As for his leadership capabilities, Washington cited him in a letter to congress when he was still officially an adviser for rallying US troops during a retreat after being shot in the leg. His record is pretty good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_...
      - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
        Sounds like I'm likely to be wrong in this case then :).
brunellus 4y ago
I’m pretty sure Lafayette had been training for this since he was around 12-13 years old.

Lafayette was a major general in the American revolution at 19, he had plenty of leadership skills in his 20’s. Not saying it’s _common_ but historically it seems at least possible.

ZephyrBlu 4y ago

A title is meaningless without context. Knowing he was a major general does not tell me anything about his leadership skills. Often at companies (And I presume in other situations as well), people are thrust into higher level positions purely because they happened to be in the right place at the right time and someone above them left.

mattnewton 4y ago
I’m saying he had the skills because after he was thrust into the position, he lead military operations, then left for France to convince them to contribute more to the American revolution (which they did). Maybe that doesn’t count as true leadership to you but I know it would clear the bar at any company I worked at.
- ZephyrBlu 4y ago
  Realizing how often people exaggerate their own abilities and working in a "good" company seeing how Senior+ devs operate, I no longer trust any claim of someones skill unless it's by someone who I already trust or there is sufficient context and evidence to support the claim. Too many people/companies claiming to be "world class" or whatever when they are above average at best. I have no knowledge of Lafayette (Not American) and no context or understanding what he did, so my default judgement is that his skill is exaggerated.
  - nl 4y ago
    I'm not American, but Lafayette was certainly successful at achieving his military and political goals. It's worth noting he had been trained in a French military academy for officers since 11, and was commissioned as an officer in the French Musketeers at 14. Additionally he was extremely well connected in the French nobility and clearly had the expectation that men would follow him. As for his leadership capabilities, Washington cited him in a letter to congress when he was still officially an adviser for rallying US troops during a retreat after being shot in the leg. His record is pretty good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_...
    - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
      Sounds like I'm likely to be wrong in this case then :).

brunellus 4y ago

I’m pretty sure Lafayette had been training for this since he was around 12-13 years old.