Falls From Grace

This week’s blog focuses on the character and personality changes that occur as a leader gains power; specifically the focus is on societal, professional, and personal dilemmas. The article can be found here and it is an excellent read.

Kramer does not discuss the inherent psychopathy inherent in many leaders. Forbes has an excellent article that summarizes various readings and published works regarding this phenomenon and it is also worth a read. Perhaps it is my work in mental health that leads me to pursue a different approach than “power changes” and instead look at it from the perspective of “to achieve the highest level of power there had to be underlying personality traits to be begin with” While Kramer holds a PhD in psychology it is in the realm of possibility that he has focused on one question and hasn’t asked the other. While that is pure speculation it does seem to be that way from the tone of his article.

As Kramer suggested there is a heady rush that comes with power. This heady rush and lack of constraints could bring to the surface underlying negative personality traits that are normally held in check by societal norms. Psychopathy, in the clinical sense, does not mean one is constantly “crazy” or is acting out in a strange fashion. Indeed many high-functioning people with mental health disorders are able to keep their impulses or negative thoughts in check by understanding that negative consequences can occur should they not do so. Remove those constraints and the negative traits can begin to surface.

As Kramer also listed several CEOs that remained grounded it is obvious that my perspective is not true across all cases however even Kramer’s suggested guidelines would not be applied to all successful leaders.

I think the larger problem is that we, as a society, admire people who are able to break the rules and succeed. We are not so forgiving of people who break the rules and do not succeed. Various news outlets will demonize a welfare recipient for finding a loophole and gaining an extra few bucks a month and then turn around and praise a billionaire for finding a loophole that allows for the avoidance of millions of dollars in taxes. This admiration bleeds over into Kramer’s argument that power gives people the feeling of being above the rules.

Personally and professionally I attempt to conduct myself according to a value system based around compassion, a sense of duty, and respect for others. I continually attempt to see things from the other party’s point of view. I feel this makes me a better person but it also makes me a shrewd negotiator and I’ve used that skill to negotiate favorable deals while selling a home or while selling a business proposal. I think that in order to keep this in check, and this is consistent with Kramer’s argument, a sense of self awareness is crucial to staying grounded. To this I would add that a strong emotional intelligence is also required. The two are similar but emotional intelligence requires us to be more in tune with how we feel in addition to just knowing our strengths and flaws. Morally, negotiating a favorable business arrangement isn’t incorrect. However, knowing a business move will cause deliberate harm can be considered immoral. Competitiveness can make that a blurry distinction and sharpening that distinction is not the focus of this post. Kramer makes a fine point about leadership and falls from grace but I wonder if they who fell from grace were victims of their own disorders?

Kramer, R. (2003, October). The Harder They Fall. Harvard Business Review,81(10), 58-66. Retrieved November 5, 2016, from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=4b2073fb-01ee-4b15-a680-5fbbc535885b@sessionmgr107&vid=0&hid=107&bda=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#AN=10986098&db=bth



Lipman, V. (2013, April 25). The Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy and Leadership. Retrieved November 5, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/#6c9842b32740