Rebels, Bullies, and Harassers

We are in the midst of an important cultural moment, driven by a wave of exposures and disclosures of sexual harassment. What we knew in the back of our minds has suddenly been forced out into the open, not unlike what happens in psychotherapy, where what was subconscious is brought into full awareness and must be reckoned with.

Sexual harassment and assault are at their core, abuses of power. And when we pull on the thread of sexual misconduct we often find a whole fabric of misdeeds. Harvey Weinstein not only used his power over women for sexual ends, but operated as an intimidating, hostile and abusive boss on a daily business. Travis Kalanick created an environment at Uber that not only encouraged sexual harassment, but fostered bullying and the defiance of regulatory and legislative authority. Roy Moore’s inappropriate sexual relationships were matched by contentiousness and open defiance of the rule of law.

The ascent to power, especially if it is rapid, creates moral and psychological risk for an organization. For the rapidly rising leader, outstanding achievements can fuel a grandiose self-image that results in putting too much faith in his or her own decisions, disregarding others’ advice, and bending the rules. For these individuals, power offers a kind of inner permission to indulge feelings and impulses that are typically forbidden. Extravagant appetites of all forms can become unchecked. Others are seen as extensions of the self rather than separate people with their own ideas and feelings while the leader tries to assuage feelings of emptiness and aloneness.

My experience working with leaders who “cross the line” has taught me that while the abuse of power is always involved, there are typically other potentiating factors. Power is more apt to corrupt when the leader has a personality predisposed to anger, mistrust, lack of empathy, conflicts around intimacy, poor impulse control, or manic depression. Organizational culture and dynamics can also lower inhibitions to abusive behavior. Frat boy cultures support inappropriate behavior, sycophants on the leadership team or in the boardroom can enable bad behavior, and organizational conflicts or crises can exacerbate feelings of isolation and dependency that lead to exploitive behavior.

Perhaps we the public bear an indirect responsibility for the acting out behavior of these rebels, bullies, and harassers. To many of us, the entrepreneurial and innovative leader is a kind of heroic bad boy (or girl) who is impulsive, rulebreaking, unconstrained, and entitled. We have been willing to look the other way as long as our stock values are rising. As an executive client has observed, the “marketplace” is often well aware of and actually exploits the deep insecurities and personality quirks of many of these superstars.

Once a superstar abuser accumulates inordinate power he can be very difficult to dislodge – witness the way Harvey Weinstein and his lawyers blocked board members from reviewing his personnel file for years. All the more urgent then that we go beyond our current trainings on workplace abuse to think more creatively about prevention. I believe we need to focus on our organizations’ rising stars who, as a group, present significant future risk. As these leaders separate themselves from the pack, we should more systematically guide them in effectively negotiating power and facing the potential it has to deform the personality and distort judgment. A focused coaching curriculum to increase self-awareness and address risk factors (e.g., impulsivity, resistance to feedback and criticism, interpersonal isolation) can both better prepare these leaders and protect their organizations from future abuses of power.

Morgan McCall, a professor of management and organization, argued in his 1998 book High Flyers, that “any process aimed at the development of executive talent must recognize the potential downside of success, build in reassessment over time, and provide mechanisms for dealing with talented people who lose their perspective.” Now is the time to act on McCall’s recommendation if we are truly serious about preventing the abuses of power we are now confronting.