The Winner Effect

Prof. Ian Robertson

Twitter: @ihrobertson thewinnereffect.com

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Affilia&on  

Achievement  

Power  

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

WHAT  STRESSES  PEOPLE  MOST?  

Illness  

Death  

Poverty  

Children   Swamped  

Illness  

Death  

Poverty  

Children   Swamped  

OPINION of  others  

The  poor  

… social-evaluative threat …

CORTISOL  

REJECTION AFFILIATION

Best managers need Affiliation < Power

Tip    

The  most  effec/ve  

bosses  need  to  be  liked  

less  than  they  enjoy  power  

Arousal stress

Perf

orm

ance

Fa/gue  Under-­‐  perform  

OPTIMAL  zone  

Tip    

Try  to  find  the  Goldilocks  

Zone  between  Jaded  and  stressed  

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

Do  you  priori&se  geFng  ahead  more  than  having  a  comfortable  life?  

In  work,  does  the  thought    of  performing  about  the  same  

as  others  bother  you?    

If  you  feel  like  you  are  was&ng    &me,  does  this  make  you  feel    

restless  and  uneasy?  

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

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

Are  you  ambi&ous?    Does  the  thought  of  ‘taking  life    as  it  comes’  make  you  uneasy?    Do  you  plan  ahead  in  your  career?    Would  you  strongly  resent    

being  described  as  ‘lazy’?  Do  you  feel  at  all  ‘driven’?  

TRINSIC EX IN

Best potential leaders:

!   Ambition implant !   Great drive !   Intrinsic motivation

Money as motivator:

!   Good if fair !   Useless if uneven

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

.  

Fernald,  R.  D.  Integr  

Haplochromis  burtoni  –  The  Cichlid  Fish  

The  Mystery  Of  the  Cichlid  Fish  

Tomato Cans

!  Las Vegas, 19th August 1995

!  Mike Tyson’s first fight since 3 years in jail for rape

!  Fights Peter McNeely

THE WINNER EFFECT

Secret of Success??

SUCCESS

Tip    

Contrive  Small  

Successes  

TESTOSTERONE    

TESTOSTERONE  

Dopamine  

Testosterone  

Tip    

Fake  Confidence  

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  Na/onal  Academy  of  Sciences  

Can you think of someone who was changed by

power?

!   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

!   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?

!   Strategic vision, wood > trees

!   Decisive, goal-focused

!   Appetite for risk

!   Handles stress well

!   Smart

!   Upbeat

!   Bold, inspiring

!   “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...”

!   “... 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...”

!   “... 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.”

!   “... 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”

!   “... 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?”

Op&mal  POWER  ac&va&on  

Underperformance  

Power-related dopamine activity

Qua

lity

or p

erfo

rman

ce Disrup/on  

HUBRIS SYNDROME

!  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

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

enhancer

Power can distort: !   Thinking !   Emotion !   Behaviour

“ You can observe a lot by just watching

(Yogi  Berra)  

!   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

POWER MOTIVATION  

P S Personal / Egotistical

Social / For others

NOT DON’T

SHOULDN’T  

P S

Tip  6      

P S Should  be  balanced  where  possible  

 

Power + Inadequacy

= BULLYING

Power is a strong drug, so …

P S need to be balanced

Power is a strong drug, so …

!  Power is a great motivator – for you and your deputies

!  You need antidotes ➡ Governance ➡ External Constraints/

Boundaries ➡  Internal Constraints

!  Enjoy it .. !  …. But not too much!

.  

Fernald,  R.  D.  Integr  

Haplochromis  burtoni  –  The  Cichlid  Fish  

The  Mystery  Of  the  Cichlid  Fish  

.  

Fernald,  R.  D.  Integr  

Haplochromis  burtoni  –  The  Cichlid  Fish  

The  Mystery  Of  the  Cichlid  Fish  

Affiliation

Achievement

Power

QUESTIONS?

THE WINNER EFFECT

Prof. Ian Robertson @ihrobertson thewinnereffect.com