Are we worshiping the wrong kind of leadership?

Reading Jim Collins’ Good to Great years ago, something jumped out at me.

The CEOs he described didn’t sound like the usual “charismatic leaders.” They sounded… different. Blunt. Detached. Hyper-focused. Almost clinical.

It clicked: they read like people with strong autistic traits.

That thought stuck. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces fit—why they ignored noise, obsessed over systems, and quietly built greatness while others chased applause.

I even asked Collins’ team about it. The official response?
“Autism wasn’t part of the data collected, so we can’t say.”

Fair enough. But the idea still nags me: maybe what makes “great” leaders isn’t charm or social brilliance—it’s traits the business world usually overlooks, or even stigmatizes.

So here’s the provocation:
Are we worshiping the wrong kind of leadership?
What if the best CEOs aren’t smooth talkers—but people who see the world differently?