Things To Think About
“Power is a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim’s sympathies.” Henry Adams
In his recent piece in The Atlantic, Jerry Useem writes about the potential brain damage caused by “power”. His opening, supported by scientific study, is chilling: Over time, leaders lose mental capacities—most notably for reading other people—that were essential to their rise.
McKinsey & Co, along with The Gallup Organization, just completed a study which concludes that global GDP is running out of gas, not because we need to learn how run companies better, it’s because we need to learn how to run them differently, meaning with a deeper understanding of the human element of business.
Adams’s quote, Useem’s article, and the McKinsey/Gallup study are a collective wake-up call to Boards of Directors and CxOs who are wondering why their subordinates aren’t delivering better results.
For more than 30 years I have been writing, lecturing, and coaching leaders about something I call the human element of leadership, now the science supporting the need for this is overwhelming.
The good news is that this particular type of tumor can have a very high cure rate.
Good luck on your journey!