Pressure Often Corrupts
Power in the hands of the wrong people is dangerous yet pressure is more likely to result in people's misconduct
We’ve all heard that power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts yet there may be more to it and unethical, illegal and immoral behavior than we assume.
In the recent Big Think article, The psychology behind “pressure pitfalls” and why it matters for leaders, Sabina Nawaz wrote why it is stress that regularly leads people to take wrong “exits” and go off course.
“Power blinds us to the impact of our actions,” she wrote, “but it’s not power that corrupts a person’s character. It’s pressure.”
There may be disagreement with that contention yet Nawaz, a CEO coach and advisor, author, keynote speaker and head of Nawaz Consulting, went on to explain.
“None of us is immune. Under enough pressure and without the right systems in place to manage it, anyone’s inner monsters come out to play,” she asserted.
This goes against a common narrative yet I too have been told this (some years ago) by an expert in governance and compliance.
He said that most people don’t intend to operate outside the figurative lines of ethics, legality and morality but the expectations placed on them, the cultural standards within their organization and the job stress leads to some professionals to make very poor, dangerous choices.
“When pressure exceeds our capacity to manage it, our guardrails disappear,” Nawaz wrote. “Our directness isn’t just read as insensitivity — we actually become insensitive. When we are squeezed by pressure, our confidence takes a genuine turn into arrogance as we lose patience and humility.
“We just don’t see these slip-ups because power blinds us to them. We almost never see repercussions of our blown pressure gauge until it’s too late.”
Research shows the primary behavior problem in leaders.
“In an analysis of twelve-thousand-plus pages of data I have accumulated across thousands of interviews, the number one stated weakness of bosses is a tendency to be hard on others,” Nawaz learned and wrote at Big Think.
“In other words, bosses come across as bullies and jerks who tank people’s morale and performance. The fine print on those behaviors includes inappropriate drama, being overly assertive, demanding, dictatorial, insecure, too focused on themselves and quick to react.
“These behaviors arise as a direct result of unmanaged pressure. It’s really that simple — and that complex,” she pointed out.
Pressure is part of any job and it should be incumbent on both the organization and employee to find workable, reliable ways to reduce that stress and anxiety so the decision-making and behavior doesn’t become more likely to become destructive to the organization, mission or the people.
Elevation in one’s responsibility, authority and power comes with added stress.
“As you rise in position and the distance between you and those who work for you increases, so does the pressure,” Nawaz wrote. “… pressure comes at you from all angles.”
Here’s why an overload of it without effectiveness of proper framing and responding can lead to often undiscussed but clearly present problems.
“When pressure rises, our ability to think clearly and modulate our behavior tanks,” Nawaz wrote. “Unless we increase our ability to manage it, pressure can easily trigger reactivity.”
Is this an absolute with everyone? No.
Many people are skilled at breathing, skillfully soothing themselves and implementing “stops” in their thinking, impulses and behavior.
They think with clarity and intelligence and regulate behavior. Not everyone, as we know, shows themselves to be exercising these skills.
People do off the rails.
“Bosses don’t become jerks overnight because they were awarded a fancy title. No one wants to become a toxic manager. The slip into ‘bad boss’ behavior occurs when the dueling headwinds of power and pressure collide,” she wrote.
“Power blinds us to our behaviors, while pressure corrupts our ability to navigate what I call the pressure pitfalls, i.e. the mistakes we become vulnerable to when pressures run high.”
Emotions and Psychology Play a Role
There is a lot happening inside the minds and nervous systems of people in power.
“As the person in charge, all eyes are on us, and that triggers something deep in our encoded DNA,” Nawaz wrote. “That ‘something’ is almost always a deep-seated fear — fear of being not liked, of being wrong or not perfect, of being found out as an imposter, of being laughed at, criticized, or rendered irrelevant.”
That heaviness is common for people who want to perform, look good, feel good and also hold on to the responsibility, title, status and compensation yet feel overtaxed in accomplishing what is expected by others and themselves.
“This is not just episodic pressure,” Nawaz added. “It’s sustained and vast amounts of pressure, from all directions, with no letup ever because there are always eyes on you.
“It is the unmanaged pile of expectations and demands that come at us all day, every day and open up deep pitfalls into which we can easily tumble and become trapped.”
Managing pressure may be too much to accomplish on one’s own and that is understandable and no reason to feel bad about oneself. Finding what works well and is healthy is not as difficult as it seems and yet if it does feel that way, there are professionals and their services who can assist people in building strength and resilience to respond best to pressure.
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