This document discusses the science of leadership and the psychological effects of power. It addresses how power can impact cognition, emotion, and behavior both positively and negatively. While power can act as a stress reducer and cognitive enhancer for leaders, it can also distort thinking and cause hubris. The document cautions that power is best exercised for social and other-oriented goals rather than personal or egotistical motives. It advocates for leaders to prioritize affiliation over power and avoid abusive uses of power that damage relationships and performance.

2. The Science of
Powerful Leadership
Prof. Ian Robertson
Twitter: @ihrobertson thewinnereffect.com

4. Affiliation
Achievement
Power

6. Affiliation

7. Achievement

8. Power

10. Affiliation
Achievement
Power

11. WHAT STRESSES PEOPLE MOST?

12. Illness
Death
Poverty
Children Swamped

13. Illness
The poor
OPINION
Death
Poverty
of others
Children Swamped

14. … social-evaluative threat …

15. CORTISOL

17. ARFEFJIELICATTIIOONN

18. Best managers need
Affiliation < Power

19. Too much need
for affiliation …
Too much stress …

20. Arousal stress
Performance
Fatigue
Under-perform
OPTIMAL
zone

21. Affiliation
Achievement
Power

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

25. In work, does the thought
of performing about the same
as others bother you?

26. If you feel like you are wasting
time, does this make you feel
restless and uneasy?

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

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

29. Are you ambitious?

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

31. Do you plan ahead in your career?

32. Would you strongly resent
being described as ‘lazy’?

33. Do you feel at all ‘driven’?

34. INTRINSIC

35. EXTRINSIC

37. Best potential leaders:
Ambition implant
Great drive
Intrinsic motivation

38. Money as motivator:
Good if fair
Useless if uneven

39. Affiliation
Achievement
Power

41. Tomato Cans
Las Vegas, 19th
August 1995
Mike Tyson’s first
fight since 3
years in jail for
rape
Fights Peter
McNeely

47. THE
WINNER
EFFECT

48. Secret of Success??
SUCCESS

51. TESTOSTERONE
TESTOSTERONE

52. Dopamine
Testosterone

55. 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

56. Can you think of someone
who was changed by
power?

57. 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

58. 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?

59. Strategic vision, wood > trees
Decisive, goal-focused
Appetite for risk
Handles stress well
Smart
Upbeat
Bold, inspiring

60. “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...”

61. “... 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...”

62. “... 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.”

63. “... 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”

64. “... 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?”

65. Optimal
POWER
activation
Underperformance
Power-related dopamine activity
Quality or performance
Disruption

66. HUBRIS
SYNDROME

67. 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

68. Leadership is stressful
…and often lonely
Power is stress-reducer
Power is anti-depressant
Power can be a cognitive
enhancer

69. Power can distort:
Thinking
Emotion
Behaviour

70. You can observe a lot
by just watching
(Yogi Berra)

71. 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

74. P Personal / S
Egotistical
Social /
For others
POWER
MOTIVATION

75. P S
NOT
DON’T
SHOULDN’T

77. THE WINNER EFFECT
Prof. Ian Robertson
@ihrobertson
thewinnereffect.com