Who should be in charge?

Mark McIlroy

26.01.2026


In my view the person with the most education should be the person who is in charge.

Education comes at a cost. It can make a person more distant, less emotional and less warm.

However it lifts a person to a higher level of understanding and thinking.

For example, I believe that to become a captain of a ocean vessel a person needs to pass a 'Captain's Exam', which is a difficult exam covering navigation and a range of other topics.


The person who is in charge needs to be strong. However they don't need to be the strongest person.

It is not the role of the person in charge to enforce situations, that's someone else's job.


Alternatives

1. No one is in charge. In this situation there is anarchy, and everyone in the area heads towards some other place, with small groups each heading in different directions to different places.


2. A large group of people is in charge. This can be a sustainable situation however it is very oppressive for anyone that is not part of that group. Those that are not part of the authority group generally rise up, sometimes violently, and overthrow those in authority.


3. A team of two or three people is in charge. This situation is usually a disaster. If the organisation is a business, it generally collapses.