Good Morning HN Family,

As HN is one of the most vibrant, thoughtful, and supportive communities on the Web today I thought I'd bring my research to this forum. I'm currently enrolled in a Professional MBA program at the University of Louisville although I work and have worked day to day as a software development professional for the last 4 years. This discussion will help me greatly in my report out for my Leadership course. But enough about me this question is truly about you all.

As I lookout over the landscape of our community (which I believe broadly encompasses: Software Development, Technology, Web Design, Entrepreneurship, etc.) I tend to notice a trend in our leadership. For the most part those we consider leaders in our community aren't the gentlemen/women doing the most hand-waving and evangelizing about what they support, instead they are often some of the more thoughtful, brilliant minds, and thought leaders in our community whom we respect for their talent. Although we have our various camps and flame wars I think largely my previous assertion rings true.

What I'm curious to understand, and hopefully the HN community can help me further develop this thought, is why doesn't this same trend tend to transfer well into other industries (i.e. Politics, Civic Organizations, etc.)? I realize this is a very broad stroke I'm painting here but I believe this holds generally. As a corollary, do you all think that this trend is truly reflective off our community? Do you think it (i.e. our typically higher levels of rationality) gives us a potential sustainable competitive advantage with respect to other industries moving forward? Other thoughts?

Thanks in Advance for your time and support!