Money and Prestige

How do you find good leaders? I was just watching last week's episode of "The West Wing", and it triggered an essay that I had read. A section of Paul Graham's How to Do What You Love talks about Money and Prestige.

Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you'd like to like. ... The other big force leading people astray is money. ... The danger is when money is combined with prestige.

Now, take this, and apply it to executive compensation. There is a lot of money being thrown around in that area. I am not saying it is wrong, but it certainly isn't going to help find the right people for the job. It will attract a whole mess of ambitious people, though. For middle executives, this may not be a problem. For a top position, do you want to attract the most ambitious people? This doesn't always equate to good leadership. You really need to dig into a person's character to find that. Some of the best leader's I've known, did it naturally and sometimes even reluctantly. That being said... I still have no idea how to attract good leaders.