How effective leaders stay on the straight and narrow path in spite of their power

Leadership at every level comes with immense power. We expect leaders to use their authority and power to serve their stakeholders. 

Sadly, many leaders use their leadership power to exploit those they are leading. In organisations and communities with weak governance structures and accountability, team members and citizens are at the mercy of the leader. 

The leader decides the liberties and freedoms the team members can enjoy without regard for standards and normal working rules. Indeed, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

The corrupt use of leadership power shows up in various ways, including, but not limited to, not listening to feedback, being wasteful, abusing office and pursuing personal interests, leading in search of praise, harassment, only welcoming praise singers, and interfering and making decisions on behalf of stakeholders who are supposed to make their own decisions. 

Unfortunately, many leadership development programmes focus on communication skills, executive presence, and the skills that a leader needs to be effective. 

Rarely does one come across a leadership programme that discusses how leaders can lead effectively and not fall prey to the trappings of leadership power. 

Our flagship leadership development programme, the Essentials of Leaders, has an entire module dedicated to equipping leaders to deal with the challenges they face on the job. We make it a point to discuss these issues openly to equip leaders to resolve them. 

How to guard against the abuse of leadership power

Guarding against trappings of leadership power becomes critical when leaders operate in teams and communities with low levels of accountability and praise-singing. 

The story goes that the great general Marcus Aurelius hired an assistant to accompany him as he strolled through the Roman town square. 

The person's sole responsibility was to whisper in his ear, "You’re just a man. You’re just a man," whenever Marcus Aurelius received praise.

Recognise the challenges and talk about the issues

The trappings of leadership power must not be an off-limit conversation for leaders. Leaders must share their experiences and the strategies they use to stay grounded. 

Daniel Vasella, Former CEO/Chairman of Novartis, used this approach with his team. He said, “I talk to my team about the seductions associated with taking on a leadership role. 

There are many different forms: sexual seduction, money and praise. You need to be aware of how you can be seduced so you can resist and keep your integrity”.  

Let the team know where you stand

A leader must share her values with the team. Do you use your leadership power to advance a personal interest or shield your favourites from going through disciplinary procedures when they are in the wrong? 

Let the team know it is unacceptable to absolve colleagues from facing disciplinary procedures for their errors. The rules should not just be in the employee handbook. 

Patrick Awuah of Ashesi University tells his team that condoning ethical breaches is unacceptable and cannot be explained away by any leader. 

In his view, ethical breaches must lead to summary dismissal. In his opinion, team members facing performance challenges have a place on the team as long as they are committed to enhancing their performance. However, leaders who abuse their office have no place on the team.

Create boundaries

Another strategy leaders have used to tame the damaging impact of their leadership power is boundary management. After assuming the top position in an organisation or team, it’s easy to think you can do everything and make every decision for other team members. 

Adopting this approach leads to a loss of trust. Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, who succeeded his dad, knew that he had to create boundaries to handle the enormous power his role brings. “You need to decide what you cannot do with the power you have. 

I know what I can do and what I can’t do”, Brian said. Leaders must recognise that their best intentions will not save them. The trappings of leadership are alluring. 

Hence, leaders must define their boundaries and stick to them. This decision helps to avoid succumbing to the destructive effects of leadership power as they ascend to higher and higher levels of leadership authority.

Look for voices that speak truth to power

Some leaders tend to disassociate from people who knew them when they were not in leadership positions. They run away from those who can speak truth to power. 

Such actions mark the beginning of going down the slippery slope. Shapiro, the famous cartoonist from South Africa, recounts the day he received a call from Nelson 

Mandela after he decided to stop publishing his works. He had met Mandela four years earlier, and his cartoons had become more critical of the ANC. 

The call from Mandela was surprising. He did not expect that Mandela would be upset with his decision. Mandela told him, “I am upset with you”. 

Mandela valued Shapiro's critical voice. To him, Shapiro was doing his job. Only a few leaders will allow dissenting voices to prevail around them.

For Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo, the voice of reality is her mother, who asks her to get the milk after she has presided over a meeting discussing multibillion-dollar investments. 

She is human and undertakes all the family activities every employee undertakes at home in addition to being ready for work as the foremost employee in the company. 

Have you tuned in to only the praise singers or eager to listen to the voice of reality, which may not be what you wish for? 

Reach out for help if necessary

Leaders who struggle to lead effectively due to the pressures of leadership must seek help immediately. Once a leader starts abusing leadership power, it is sometimes difficult to return. 

Leaders who face this temptation must confide in other leaders they trust and seek support to remedy the situation.

So, to whom do you listen? Remember Marcus Aurelius. It takes tremendous effort to maintain composure amid enormous leadership power. Who is your assistant or accountability partner - the voice that saves you when the applause is loudest?

…..be of good cheer!

The writer is the Founder of the CEO Accelerator Programme and Chief Learning Strategist at TEMPLE Advisory. He specialises in leadership development, executive coaching and strategy consulting. 

The mission of The Leadership Project is to harvest highly effective leadership practices and share them in a manner that other leaders can easily incorporate into their leadership practice. 

If you have an idea or leadership practice to share, kindly write to programs@thelearningtemple.com. Until you read from us again, keep leading…..from leader to leader, one practice at a time.