The Science of

Powerful Leadership

Prof. Ian Robertson

Twitter: @ihrobertson thewinnereffect.com

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

WHAT STRESSES PEOPLE MOST?

Illness

Death

Poverty

Children Swamped

Illness

Death

Poverty

Children Swamped

OPINION

of others

The poor

… social-evaluative threat …

CORTISOL

REJECTIONAFFILIATION

Best managers need

Affiliation < Power

Too much need

for affiliation …

Too much stress …

Arousal stress

Perf

orm

an

ce

FatigueUnder-

perform

OPTIMALzone

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Do you prioritise getting ahead more than having a comfortable life?

In work, does the thought of performing about the same

as others bother you?

If you feel like you are wasting time, does this make you feel

restless and uneasy?

Do you always try to be the best at what you do?

Would you choose to work with a difficult but talented co-worker over a pleasant but less competent one?

Are you ambitious?

Does the thought of ‘taking life as it comes’ make you uneasy?

Do you plan ahead in your career?

Would you strongly resent being described as ‘lazy’?

Do you feel at all ‘driven’?

TRINSICIN

TRINSICEX

Best potential leaders:

Ambition implant

Great drive

Intrinsic motivation

Money as motivator:

Good if fair

Useless if uneven

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Tomato Cans

Las Vegas, 19th

August 1995

Mike Tyson’s first

fight since 3

years in jail for

rape

Fights Peter

McNeely

THE

WINNER

EFFECT

Secret of Success??

SUCCESS

TESTOSTERONE

TESTOSTERONE

Dopamine

Testosterone

Trading desk.Endogenous steroids and financial risk taking on a London trading floor

Coates J M, Herbert J PNAS 2008;105:6167-6172

©2008 by National Academy of Sciences

Can you think of someone

who was changed by

power?

Pushy?

Selfish?

Likes having impact on underlings by:

➡ Shocking them

➡ Surprising them

➡ Frightening them

➡ Making them grateful

Sees other in terms of their usefulness

Tunnel vision

Sexually primed

Hypocritical – applying different standards

to themselves than to others

Difficulty in seeing other points of view

Disinhibited

➡ Insensitive

➡ Would-be jokey comments

Incompetent and bullying?

Strategic vision, wood > trees

Decisive, goal-focused

Appetite for risk

Handles stress well

Smart

Upbeat

Bold, inspiring

“I just felt better and more able to contribute to

other peoples’ lives, given my new role”

“Relatively shy person who is now much more

self-confident now she is a director..”

.. Very competitive to peers but once he

became CEO, he opened up, stimulated board

members and gave them opportunities to grow”

“..more positive energy in the organization..”

“... More focus, more leadership..”

“Less tense, more relaxed, showing qualities

that were not so present before...”

“... I was promoted to MD Europe for a

German organisation.. My German colleagues

.. Found it difficult that I did not behave as a

“real boss”; effectiveness was only proven

later.

“... I have become more self-confident.. And I

now flaunt my imperfections and feel less

pressure to change/improve on these.”

“I like power and I think I can be more myself..”

“I found my words are taken as absolute truth..

Have to be careful what I say...”

“... As he noticed that people would follow him,

his comments became even more

overpowering. The original effectiveness totally

disappeared.”

“.. Decreasing ability to listen...decreasing

ability to be surprised.. Increasing search for

control... Less seeking for countervailing

power”

“ ... More difficult to criticize, so less negative

feedback and hence difficult to stay humble”

“..so convinced of himself that he did not need

advice any more... Became out of touch with

reality and his judgement deteriorated.”

“... Fraud and misuse of relations.. Abusing his

unlimited power ...”

“.. Behaved more and more as king... Not

listening to staff, making decisions on his

own... Accused of fraud, taking bribes and

convicted.”

“.. Egocentric... Lost his job... Left his friends

and family a long time ago because of

egocentric behaviour”

“Vanity... Control freak.”

“Decreasing role as team player”

“... Very suddenly cultural/atmosphere

change... Friends and close allies promoted”

“To my surprise... Bully-type leaders have more

impact and success than coaching-style

leaders.”

“Current fashion for CEO’s to be less in control to

enhance trust and empowerment … does not this

increase stress and cortisol in CEO’s?”

Optimal

POWERactivation

Underperformance

Power-related dopamine activity

Qu

ali

ty o

r p

erfo

rman

ce

Disruption

HUBRIS

SYNDROME

Preoccupation with image

Accountable to history or God

Speaks in the third person, or uses the royal ‘we’

Excessive confidence in own judgment

Loss of contact with reality; often progressive

isolation

Restless, reckless and impulsive

Hubristic incompetence

Leadership is stressful

…and often lonely

Power is stress-reducer

Power is anti-depressant

Power can be a cognitive

enhancer

Power can distort:

Thinking

Emotion

Behaviour

You can observe a lot

by just watching

(Yogi Berra)

Carrying out strong, psychologically or physically forceful, actions

Offer help or advice without being asked

Try to regulate or control what others are doing

Try to influence, bribe or argue with others

Seek to impress

Arouse strong reactions or emotions in others in a one-sided way

Are concerned with prestige and/or reputation

POWER

MOTIVATION

P SPersonal /

Egotistical

Social /

For others

NOT

DON’T

SHOULDN’T

P S

THE WINNER EFFECT

Prof. Ian Robertson

@ihrobertson

thewinnereffect.com