My last entry, “Power and Persuasion: Friends or Foes? (Part 2),” cited evidence that the “subjective experience of power” tended to result in what researcher Leigh Plunkett Tost of Duke University called the “power-induced neglect of the judgments of others.”[1]

A CEO of a small, well-capitalized energy company who reads this blog, dashed off a smart, passionate response that I think is worth sharing in full:

 [I] agree power is possibly corrupting [the] full exchange of ideas.  But you don’t give any credit to what “earned” that power, i.e., competence, capital risked, the need for speed in some decision environments, or a “buck stops here” accountability that some of the “Group” may not share or want.  Power is positional for a reason.

Not all leaders or situations have the luxury of time to go seek out ideas from everyone [or] to “persuade” them to buy-in to your ideas or direction.  But I agree with the general premise that more buy-in to the plan promotes a well-led constituency. 

Just remember that those who have paid the price for power are sometimes justified to use it.  Abuse of power is a different subject.

A couple of comments:

First, there are obviously situations when speed and decisiveness are the essence of leadership, precluding the inevitably lengthy exercise of influence and persuasion. A healthy reminder that situations can make the leader as much as the leader makes situations.

Second, while power certainly comes with perks, it also comes with burdens, not the least of which is the burden of accountability. But if I read the research right, an additional burden of power is what we might call “psychological inflation”: the boost in confidence and competitiveness that comes with getting to the top. The downside of this “psychological inflation” for leaders is that it tends to make it easier for them to undervalue the opinion of others.

Perhaps the most effective leaders, and I would place this particular CEO in that category, are those who can acknowledge the “inflationary” push on their valuation of their own opinion, but don’t give in to it.