Elon Musk: A Tech Leader Must Know Tech—Like a Cavalry Captain Must Ride a Horse

Elon Musk: If you're a cavalry captain, you must be able to ride a horse.

“If somebody is going to lead something in technology, they must themselves be good at technology. If they're going to lead something that involves complex engineering, they must themselves be good at engineering.

They don't necessarily need to be the best engineer on the team, but they need to be very competent in their field. This is incredibly important.

To me, if somebody's leading a given engineering field or engineering department, and they are not good at that, then that would be like a cavalry captain who can't ride a horse.

Problem: great leader in every way, except he can't ride a horse. Then you've got to charge into battle, and the cavalry captain falls off the horse. It's not inspiring.

So, the cavalry captain must be able to ride a horse. They don't need to be the best horse rider, but they must be competent in this regard.

Otherwise, they cannot evaluate the talent of the team. And they don't understand the technology that's being developed.

This may seem like a simple thing, but it is often the case that this is overlooked.”

Source: United States Military Academy West Point, August 16, 2024