• Tweet

  • Post

  • Share

  • Save

  • Get PDF

  • Buy Copies

  • Print

In the behavioral enquiry I've conducted over the by twenty years, I've uncovered a disturbing design: While people normally proceeds power through traits and deportment that accelerate the interests of others, such equally empathy, collaboration, openness, fairness, and sharing; when they get-go to feel powerful or enjoy a position of privilege, those qualities begin to fade. The powerful are more likely than other people to engage in rude, selfish, and unethical behavior. The 19th-century historian and politician Lord Acton got it right: Ability does tend to corrupt.

I telephone call this phenomenon "the ability paradox," and I've studied it in numerous settings: colleges, the U.Due south. Senate, pro sports teams, and a diversity of other professional workplaces. In each I've observed that people ascent on the ground of their practiced qualities, but their behavior grows increasingly worse equally they motion upwardly the ladder. This shift can happen surprisingly quickly. In ane of my experiments, known as "the cookie monster" study, I brought people into a lab in groups of three, randomly assigned 1 to a position of leadership, and then gave them a grouping writing task. A half hour into their work, I placed a plate of freshly baked cookies—one for each squad member, plus an extra—in forepart of everyone. In all groups each person took one and, out of politeness, left the extra cookie. The question was: Who would accept a second treat, knowing that it would deprive others of the same? Information technology was nearly always the person who'd been named the leader. In addition, the leaders were more likely to eat with their mouths open, lips smacking, and crumbs falling onto their clothes.

Studies show that wealth and credentials can have a like consequence. In another experiment, Paul Piff of UC Irvine and I found that whereas drivers of the least expensive vehicles—Contrivance Colts, Plymouth Satellites—always ceded the right-of-manner to pedestrians in a crosswalk, people driving luxury cars such as BMWs and Mercedes yielded but 54% of the time; virtually half the time they ignored the pedestrian and the law. Surveys of employees in 27 countries have revealed that wealthy individuals are more likely to say it'southward acceptable to appoint in unethical behavior, such as taking bribes or cheating on taxes. And contempo research led by Danny Miller at HEC Montréal demonstrated that CEOs with MBAs are more probable than those without MBAs to engage in self-serving behavior that increases their personal compensation but causes their companies' value to decline.

These findings suggest that iconic abuses of power—Jeffrey Skilling's fraudulent accounting at Enron, Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski'south illegal bonuses, Silvio Berlusconi's bunga bunga parties, Leona Helmsley's tax evasion—are extreme examples of the kinds of misbehavior to which all leaders, at any level, are susceptible. Studies bear witness that people in positions of corporate ability are three times every bit likely as those at the lower rungs of the ladder to interrupt coworkers, multitask during meetings, raise their voices, and say insulting things at the part. And people who've simply moved into senior roles are particularly vulnerable to losing their virtues, my enquiry and other studies indicate.

Focusing on benefits, not challenges, is a good mode to increase your aspiration.

The consequences can be far-reaching. The corruption of power ultimately tarnishes the reputations of executives, undermining their opportunities for influence. It as well creates stress and feet among their colleagues, diminishing rigor and creativity in the grouping and dragging downward team members' engagement and performance. In a recent poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, about half the respondents who reported beingness treated rudely at work said they deliberately decreased their endeavor or lowered the quality of their work in response.

So how can yous avoid succumbing to the ability paradox? Through awareness and activeness.

A Need for Reflection

A first stride is developing greater self-sensation. When y'all have on a senior office, you need to be attentive to the feelings that accompany your newfound power and to any changes in your behavior. My research has shown that power puts us in something like a manic state—making us feel expansive, energized, omnipotent, hungry for rewards, and immune to risk—which opens usa up to rash, rude, and unethical actions. But new studies in neuroscience notice that by simply reflecting on those thoughts and emotions—"Hey, I'thou feeling as if I should rule the world right now"—we tin can engage regions of our frontal lobes that help the states keep our worst impulses in check. When nosotros recognize and characterization feelings of joy and confidence, we're less probable to brand irrational decisions inspired past them. When nosotros acknowledge feelings of frustration (perchance because subordinates aren't behaving the way nosotros want), we're less likely to answer in adversarial or confrontational means.

You can build this kind of self-awareness through everyday mindfulness practices. 1 approach starts with sitting in a comfortable and quiet identify, breathing deeply, and concentrating on the feeling of inhaling and exhaling, physical sensations, or sounds or sights in your surround. Studies show that spending simply a few minutes a twenty-four hours on such exercises gives people greater focus and calm, and for that reason techniques for them are at present taught in preparation programs at companies similar Google, Facebook, Aetna, General Mills, Ford, and Goldman Sachs.

It'due south also important to reflect on your demeanor and actions. The following assessment will give you an thought of whether yous are being tempted into problematic, big-headed displays of power. Try to be brutally honest with yourself as yous respond these questions, putting aside the trend most of usa have to recollect nearly ourselves in overly flattering terms. No one wins if yous bend the truth.

Is Power Corrupting You?

Nevertheless you lot answered these questions, continuing to follow (or restore) the virtuous behaviors that led to your power in the first place will exist essential to your sustained legitimacy as a leader.

This commodity too appears in:

You may accept noticed that some of the questions above relate to seemingly everyday behaviors, deportment you lot might not even think have significance at all. What may seem innocuous to you lot probably doesn't to your subordinates. Consider a story I recently heard most a needlessly hierarchical lunch-delivery protocol on a cable-television writing team. Each twenty-four hours when the team's sandwiches arrived, they were doled out to the writers in order of seniority. In failing to correct this behavior, the group's leaders were almost certainly diminishing its collaborative and creative potential. For a contrast, consider U.S. military mess halls, where the practice is the reverse, as the ethnographer and author Simon Sinek notes in the title of his about recent book, Leaders Eat Last. Officers adhere to the policy not to cede authorisation but to show respect for their troops.

Practicing Graciousness

Whether you lot've already begun to succumb to the power paradox or not, you must work to remember and echo the virtuous behaviors that helped you rise in the first identify. When teaching executives and others in positions of power, I focus on iii essential practices—empathy, gratitude, and generosity—that have been shown to sustain benevolent leadership, even in the most cutthroat environments.

For example, Leanne x Brinke, Chris Liu, Sameer Srivastava, and I institute that U.S. senators who used empathetic facial expressions and tones of voice when speaking to the flooring got more bills passed than those who used domineering, threatening gestures and tones in their speeches. Research by Anita Woolley of Carnegie Mellon and Thomas Malone of MIT has likewise shown that when teammates subtly signal understanding, engagement, interest, and business concern for 1 some other, the team is more effective at tackling difficult belittling bug.

Small expressions of gratitude also yield positive results. Studies show that romantic partners who admit each other's value in casual chat are less probable to pause up, that students who receive a pat on the dorsum from their teachers are more likely to take on difficult problems, and that people who express appreciation to others in a newly formed group feel stronger ties to the grouping months subsequently. Adam Grant of Wharton has found that when managers accept the time to thank their employees, those workers are more engaged and productive. And my ain enquiry on NBA teams with Michael Kraus of Yale University shows that players who physically brandish their appreciation—through head raps, deport hugs, and hip and chest bumps—inspire their teammates to play improve and win nearly ii more games per season (which is both statistically significant and often the difference between making the play-offs and not).

Campbell Soup CEO Douglas Conant handwrote at least 10 thank-you notes each day.

Simple acts of generosity tin can exist equally powerful. Studies show that individuals who share with others in a group—for example, by contributing new ideas or directly assisting on projects not their own—are accounted more worthy of respect and influence and more suitable for leadership. Mike Norton at Harvard Business Schoolhouse has found that when organizations provide an opportunity to donate to charities at work, employees feel more than satisfied and productive.

It might seem hard to constantly follow the ethics of "good power" when you're the boss and responsible for making sure things get done. Not so. Your capacity for empathy, gratitude, and generosity can be cultivated by engaging in simple social behaviors whenever the opportunity presents itself: a team meeting, a client pitch or negotiation, a 360-degree feedback session. Here are a few suggestions.

To exercise empathy:

  • Ask a cracking question or two in every interaction, and paraphrase important points that others make.
  • Listen with gusto. Orient your body and eyes toward the person speaking and convey interest and appointment vocally.
  • When someone comes to you with a problem, indicate concern with phrases such equally "I'm sorry" and "That's really tough." Avoid rushing to judgment and advice.
  • Earlier meetings, take a moment to think near the person yous'll exist with and what is happening in his or her life.

Arturo Bejar, Facebook'due south managing director of technology, is one executive I've seen make empathy a priority equally he guides his teams of designers, coders, data specialists, and writers. Watching him at work, I've noticed that his meetings all tend to be structured around a pour of open-concluded questions and that he never fails to listen thoughtfully. He leans toward whoever is speaking and carefully writes down everyone's ideas on a notepad. These small expressions of empathy signal to his team that he understands their concerns and wants them to succeed together.

To practice gratitude:

  • Make thoughtful thank-yous a part of how you lot communicate with others.
  • Send colleagues specific and timely e-mails or notes of appreciation for jobs done well.
  • Publicly acknowledge the value that each person contributes to your team, including the support staff.
  • Apply the correct kind of bear upon—pats on the back, fist bumps, or loftier fives—to celebrate successes.

When Douglas Conant was CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, he emphasized a civilization of gratitude across the organization. Each day he and his executive assistants would spend up to an hour scanning his e-mail service and the company intranet for news of employees who were "making a difference." Conant would then personally thank them—everyone from senior executives to maintenance people—for their contributions, usually with handwritten notes. He estimates that he wrote at least x a solar day, for a total of well-nigh 30,000 during his decade-long tenure, and says he would frequently find them pinned up in employees' workspaces. Leaders I've taught take shared other tactics: giving small gifts to employees, taking them out to overnice lunches or dinners, hosting employee-of-the-month celebrations, and setting up existent or virtual "gratitude walls," on which coworkers tin thank one another for specific contributions.

To exercise generosity:

  • Seek opportunities to spend a little one-on-i fourth dimension with the people you lead.
  • Delegate some of import and loftier-profile responsibilities.
  • Give praise generously.
  • Share the limelight. Requite credit to all who contribute to the success of your squad and your organization.

Pixar manager Pete Docter is a chief of this last do. When I outset started working with him on the motion-picture show Inside Out, I was curious almost a cinematic curiosity he'd created v years before: the montage at the start of the flick Upwardly, which shows the protagonist, Carl, meeting and falling in love with a girl, Ellie; enjoying a long married life with her; and and then watching her succumb to illness. When I asked how he'd achieved it, his answer was an exhaustive list of the 250 writers, animators, actors, story artists, designers, sculptors, editors, programmers, and figurer modelers who had worked on it with him. When people ask about the box-office success of Within Out, he gives a similar response. Another Facebook executive I've worked with, product manager Kelly Winters, shares credit in a like manner. When she does PowerPoint presentations or talks to reporters about the success of her Pity squad, she always lists or talks about the data analysts, engineers, and content specialists who made it happen.

Yous can outsmart the power paradox past practicing the ethics of empathy, gratitude, and generosity. It volition bring out the all-time piece of work and collaborative spirit of those around you. And yous, too, will benefit, with a burnished reputation, long-lasting leadership, and the dopamine-rich delights of advancing the interests of others.

A version of this article appeared in the October 2016 upshot (pp.108–111) of Harvard Business organization Review.