Confidence, Anderson told us, matters just as much as

competence. We didn’t want to believe it, and we

pressed him for alternative theories. But deep down,
we knew we’d seen the same phenomenon for years.
Within any given organization, be it an investment
bank or the PTA, some individuals tend to be more
admired and more listened to than others. They are
not necessarily the most knowledgeable or capable
people in the room, but they are the most self-assured.

“When people are confident, when they think they are

good at something, regardless of how good they
actually are, they display a lot of confident nonverbal
and verbal behavior,” Anderson said. He mentioned
expansive body language, a lower vocal tone, and a
tendency to speak early and often in a calm, relaxed
manner. “They do a lot of things that make them look
very confident in the eyes of others,” he added.
“Whether they are good or not is kind of irrelevant.”
Kind of irrelevant. Infuriatingly, a lack of competence
doesn’t necessarily have negative consequences. Among
Anderson’s students, those who displayed more
confidence than competence were admired by the rest
of the group and awarded a high social status. “The
most confident people were just considered the most
beloved in the group,” he said. “Their overconfidence
did not come across as narcissistic.”