Power changes not only a leader’s resources but apparently how they see. After years of power and repeated success, researchers named the pattern “hubris syndrome”: excessive self-confidence, contempt for others, and loss of contact with reality. For leaders of capital, teams, and big decisions, the question is not whether confidence matters. It is where the risk comes from and what prevents it. This article examines that risk and the protections available to senior decision-makers.
In Clinical Medicine (2008), Owen described hubris syndrome as a pattern linked to power. The pattern is more likely the longer and the greater the power, usually abates when the person no longer holds power, and is not applied to anyone with existing mental illness or brain damage. Selten, writing in Psychological Medicine (2023), proposed considering the syndrome for classification systems as a personality change after gaining substantial power or overwhelming success. Unlike a personality disorder, it does not begin in adolescence or early adulthood but after long power; grandiosity is the core trait. The syndrome is therefore best understood as an acquired change rather than a lifelong disorder. For decision-makers, the status of the term matters: it remains a research proposal, not an official diagnosis. [Further research needed: the syndrome is not yet accepted in DSM or ICD.]
The celebration ends; the way of seeing that follows it remains — Photo: Joel Zar / Pexels
What Does Power Do to How We See Others?
Galinsky et al., writing in Psychological Science (2006), conducted four experiments and a correlational study. People placed in a high-power state took others’ perspectives less, judged more from their own vantage point, accounted less for the fact that others lacked their privileged knowledge, and were less accurate at reading others’ emotional expressions. For a senior leader, the implication is direct: the higher the position, the more likely the assumption that everyone sees what the leader sees. A limitation is equally important: power was induced in the lab, not measured in real organizations.
Is a Narcissistic Leader Always Bad for the Organization?
Braun, in a 2017 systematic review published in Frontiers in Psychology, examined 45 research articles and found that leader narcissism has a bright and a dark side. Findings at the leader-follower, team, and organizational levels are inconsistent. In a 2015 study by Owens, Wallace, and Waldman in the Journal of Applied Psychology, employees of a large health insurance organization rated leaders as more effective when leader narcissism was combined with humility. Followers also showed higher job engagement and better subjective and objective performance. The takeaway for executives is not that high confidence is dangerous; confidence that has stopped listening to feedback is.
The moment of victory is a test of listening — Photo: Bastian Riccardi / Pexels
What Does Psychoanalysis Add?
In On Narcissism (1914, SE 14), Freud described grandiosity appearing when emotional investment is withdrawn from others and turned back onto the self. Long power can ease this turn: fewer people disagree, mirrors reflect only success, and the other who must be seen fades. The danger, on this account, is not success itself but the environment success builds around the leader.
What Protects a Leader from This Trap?
Owen (2008) noted that the syndrome is less likely in people who retain personal modesty, remain open to criticism, and keep a degree of cynicism or a well-developed sense of humour. In practice, that means a circle of people allowed to say no, and taking seriously signs such as contempt for dissenters or ignoring feedback. The pattern is acquired and appears reversible when the environment and the relationship to power change.
Owen D. Hubris syndrome. Clin Med (Lond). 2008;8(4):428-32. PMID: 18724614. DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.8-4-428
Selten JP. Consider the hubris syndrome for inclusion in our classification systems. Psychol Med. 2023;53(13):5889-5891. PMID: 37679027
Galinsky AD, Magee JC, Inesi ME, et al. Power and perspectives not taken. Psychol Sci. 2006;17(12):1068-74. PMID: 17201789. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01824.x
Braun S. Leader Narcissism and Outcomes in Organizations: A Review at Multiple Levels of Analysis. Front Psychol. 2017;8:773. PMID: 28579967
Owens BP, Wallace AS, Waldman DA. Leader narcissism and follower outcomes: The counterbalancing effect of leader humility. J Appl Psychol. 2015;100(4):1203-1213. PMID: 25621592. DOI: 10.1037/a0038698
Freud S. On Narcissism: An Introduction (1914). Standard Edition, Vol. 14. London: Hogarth Press.
Image Credits
Featured image: AI-generated illustration; no real person is depicted. In-text photos: Joel Zar / Pexels; Bastian Riccardi / Pexels.
