He flew in from the United States for a Board meeting. The founders wanted him to speak with someone they had concluded for a very important and lucrative growth role. But he had a different plan, asking them that instead of waiting for the candidate to come to the board room, he would go where she was with others to meet her.
When he got there, there was a little excitement that he came in person. Some staff asked for selfies, etc. But one person did not show any sign, staying focused on her laptop. Then, one of the staff tapped her: meet our Chairman. She jumped up and extended her hands….Decision time: the Chairman was concerned, not because of himself, but because of potential customers. They did not hire her – and a company which later hired her let her go after 4 weeks.
Good People, as you rise in power and status, people will like to impress and please you. What happens is that under that power influence, you lose the capacity to judge character because people will mask everything to please you, especially if you lead by projecting absolute power, instead of leadership power.
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That explains why great leaders modulate power, so that by doing so, the opportunity to understand team members will not be lost. You need that knowledge to build a great company especially at the senior leadership level. Teams win markets because every great company has great products and superior execution capacity. Only efficient teams execute at the highest level.
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The chiefs who project absolute power are not actually leading, rather they are just bullying people to submission. Do people fear and respect you because you can fire them, or you are a great human with immense capacity?
The biggest task for those with enormous power is to continually purify their reason, which will keep ethical blindness in check, else the lure and paraphernalia that go with power will mess them up. What is greatness without virtues? It does not inspire.