The Intoxication of Power

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. Making Sense of Hubris

   • Graham M. Robinson

   Pages 1-16

3. The Psychopathology of Power

   • S. Nassir Ghaemi, Christos Liapis, David Owen

   Pages 17-37

4. Hubris in Business and Management Research: A 30-year Review of Studies

   • Eugene Sadler-Smith

   Pages 39-74

5. Pathologies of Power and Cognition

   • Ricardo Blaug

   Pages 75-88

6. The Hubris Factor in Leadership

   • Manfred Kets de Vries

   Pages 89-99

7. It’s Not Just Others: Conquering the Hubris in Yourself

   • Christoph H. Loch

   Pages 101-115

8. Tales from the Road — Encounters with Hubris?

   • John Harris

   Pages 117-134

9. On the Linguistics of Power (and the Power of Linguistics)

   • Peter Garrard

   Pages 135-154

10. The Social Neuroscience of Power and Its Links with Empathy, Cooperation and Cognition

    • Marco Vega, Jamie Ward

    Pages 155-174

11. Doctors, Power and Their Performance

    • Alastair Scotland

    Pages 175-201

12. Do Successful Adult Leaders Share Common Childhood Experiences?

    • Vita Akstinaite

    Pages 203-228

13. The Role of Leader Hubris in the Decline of RBS and Lehman Brothers

    • Tim Wray

    Pages 229-251

14. Back Matter

    Pages 253-266

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The Intoxication of Power is a collection of contributions by thirteen authors from various academic disciplines sharing a concern for the development of understanding of the nature and origins of leadership hubris. The book originated at conferences held by the Daedalus Trust, which fosters research into challenges to organizational well-being.

• business
• development
• management
• organization
• organizations
• trust

'In the era of globalization, multinational corporations, increasingly complex healthcare systems and the massively resourced wars on drugs and terror, this welcome publication addresses vital questions: how does power corrupt, is it the norm to be susceptible to arrogance with success, how should we vet, facilitate and govern our leaders?'

- Prof. George Ikkos, President Royal Society of Medicine Psychiatry Section 2012-13

'The exercise of power can be associated with overconfidence, excessive narcissism and hubris. Such behaviours will have toxic effects for individual leaders and their organisations. This book is timely in offering a pragmatic inter-disciplinary approach to leadership pathologies by authoritative contributors in raising awareness and promoting evidence based research.'

- Prof. Nick Bouras, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, King's College London

'This important book searches for causes of personal failure within the individual's psyche. It makes the case for personal development and careful preparation for positions of high responsibility. Its message for tomorrow's leaders is: the Sun is not your problem; it is how well prepared you are for the heat. This is as much up to you as it is to your mentors. A reading of this book will help.'

- Sir Bob Reid, Chairman ICE Futures and ICE Clear Europe. Former Chairman and Chief Executive, Shell UK Limited; former Chairman British Rail; former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Scotland

• University of London, UK

  Peter Garrard

• University of Surrey, UK

  Graham Robinson

Peter Garrard is a clinical academic neurologist based at St George's University of London, UK. His clinical practice and research focus on cognitive and language disorders.

Graham Robinson is a visiting senior fellow at the Surrey Business School of the University of Surrey, UK, where he is concerned with issues of organizational learning and development.

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