Can Power Corrupt a Leader?

“Power is like an amplifier. Whoever we were before just gets louder.” 

In his op-ed in The Washington Post yesterday (2/22/19), Professor Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania,  shared his deep insight into whether power corrupts. ( https://lnkd.in/eTf4NJE) I have been recommending his article to clients and colleagues who are focused on detecting and preventing corruption in organizations. There is a lot of food for thought here on developing ethical leadership and avoiding wrong-doing.

For the last 16+ years “P.E.”—the Post-Enron era of the compliance and ethics profession—we have been exploring this question from various perspectives after learning of new institutional scandals and fallen leaders. “Does power corrupt the leader, or does a leader corrupt the organization?”  

Saying that "power corrupts," Grant notes, “lets powerful people off the hook. The way we use power reveals our character. The ultimate test of character is how we treat people who lack power.”

Also, interestingly, for those of us who have heard for years that the Zimbardo/Stanford prison-guard experiment was evidence of the corrupting influence of power (and blind obedience), Grant points out the relevant context that is usually left out of those references. Apparently, the people who were drawn to volunteering for “prison life” experiments were found to have higher tendencies toward aggression, social dominance, narcissism, authoritarianism and Machiavellianism than those who volunteered for psychological experiments in general. 

The takeaways?

If we want to encourage ethical leadership and risk-aware cultures, we must do a better job of understanding the character, decision-making and behavior of those we hire and promote into positions of discretionary authority. It’s not enough to just determine whether they have the skills or expertise to drive results. 

 As leaders, we must also have the self-awareness and humility to reflect on our own pre-dispositions, motivations, decision-making and behaviors; and that includes routinely asking for feedback from those who know us and follow us. 

 Please feel free to reach out, if you would like to discuss how the Resilti team can support your efforts to assess and manage risks, develop ethical leadership or enhance your organization’s resilience. You can send me a private message through LinkedIn or reach me by email. We look forward to hearing from you.

#EthicalLeadership #Corruption #Power #Compliance #Risk #LeadershipDevelopment