I generally agree with you POV (people are complicated). I don't think the parent was calling people people cheerleaders merely for defending him on any level.
But to add to your comment. I never understand why people are surprised that a person driven, opinionated and cutthroat enough to be a successful business person is a bit of an arsehole in person. It kind of goes with the territory.
Ah, I definitely read it that way. The use of “cheerleaders” leaves little room for ambiguity, I think.
I was watching a brilliant talk from someone quite famous in the nerd world and he was talking about Steve Jobs and the two things he brought to business… paraphrasing, one about being a visionary, and the other about… let’s say “strong management”. I do wonder if you’re right, I hope it’s possible to be nice and great though. Maybe it’s just harder.
Yes well unreasonable men change the world and all that. I don't think it's impossible to not be an arse hole and successful in business, but the 2 tend to go together, and even after you tend to get surrounded by yes men so even if you weren't an arse hole to start with, the situation runs the risk of turning you into one.