128 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP
deserved. But I was left with a lasting impression of just how far people
are willing to go to obey what they perceive as authority.
The fact is that people with even scant authority can get away with
murder, literally and fi guratively. I have been in some companies so
permeated with insecurity and fear that they trigger images of concen-
tration camps. I once met an executive who told me, ‘ Every day I walk
into the offi ce, I can make the lives of 10,000 people completely miser-
able by doing very, very little. ’ Now why would you want to do that?
The answer lies in the perpetual dilemma that has faced tyrants
of all kinds throughout history. In spite of all their possessions, in spite
of all their power, they are constantly on their guard against threats
in their environment. I have been curious for years about what makes
despotic leaders tick. What is the personality construct of a Caligula
or a Hitler? What makes them behave in the way they do? How did
they become so cruel? Why do the Mugabes of this world derail and
slide into despotism? And on a lesser, but more common scale, what
is happening in the inner world of ruthless leaders in the workplace?
Why do some executives seem to lose their sense of humanity? Why
and how do they create terror in their organizations? In this section,
I highlight some of the psychological forces that make leaders prisoners
of leadership. These psychological pressures may cause stress, anxiety,
and depression, which may in their turn provoke irresponsible and
irrational behavior that affects an organization ’ s culture and decision -
making patterns.
Tyranny in any context is inseparable from power. Thomas Jefferson
once wrote: ‘ Whenever a man casts a longing eye on offi ces, a rottenness
begins in his conduct. ’ Power can be a disease, contaminating those who
come into contact with it; and it can be a narcotic, turning the power -
hungry into addicts. Many people who seem otherwise quite sane sud-
denly engage in pathological behavior when they are given power. We
all have a dark side, one that shows itself only in certain situations — like
my and my brother ’ s opportunistic and short - lived foray into despotism.
I suspect that most of us will have been surprised by the recognition of
the potential for violence within us.
Luckily very few of us will realize that potential to the extent that
Shaka Zulu did. When I was studying in the stacks of the Harvard
Library more years ago than I like to remember, I came across an article
in Scientifi c American about the ways in which the infamous African king,
Shaka Zulu, had modernized warfare in the nineteenth century. The
article intrigued me. I saw Shaka, who is still held in awe in southern
Africa, as the prototype of leaders who go off the rails. Much of his
behavior reminded me of Saddam Hussein and, to a lesser degree, Robert