Why do leaders become corrupt

There has been no shortage of high-octane examples of the dark, intimate relationship between power and corruption in recent headlines. The two don't always go hand in hand, but they are never far from each other — corruption hovers around power like an invisible force field.

History has shown that it can be difficult to resist the pull to the dark side. Look at Canada's scandal-ridden Senate. Senators are by all accounts intelligent, accomplished individuals who have been appointed to the Senate after distinguishing themselves in their private lives and careers. And what are we to make of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who desperately clung to power during the scandal only to step down days after being re-elected for a fifth term?

But what is it about power that can corrupt one individual and not another? Why is it that all those other senators and FIFA officials were able to avoid the lure that drew their colleagues into scandal?

For business leaders to better understand how power sometimes corrupts — and avoid it — it's important to gain a better understanding of the motivations that drive us all.

The factors that motivate us typically form subconsciously by the time we hit the age of about five. These natural motives energize us and create levels of extreme personal satisfaction when we attain them.

The combination of these morals and good practices will greatly benefit how well a group works together and what they will be able to achieve. Overall, maintaining the virtuous qualities that granted you power is key in the longevity and effectiveness of your run as a leader.

Furthermore, leadership does not develop overnight. When you take on a senior role, you need to be attentive to the feelings that accompany your newfound power and to any changes in your behavior.

A leader should not only be confident in their own capabilities - but should also believe in the potential that their team holds. This way, the group can approach any situation aiming for real results.

It is necessary for leaders to learn how to make firm decisions that they can stand by, for this is a recurring duty entailed within such a position. Leaders should have a set vision that they will vigorously pursue. This requires a game plan plus many back-ups , and a push for organization and unity. It is motivating for group members to see those in authoritative positions putting in as much effort as they do.

People should be hardworking at all levels; leadership should not serve as a free pass to sit back and relax. Once commitment is instilled throughout the entire group, goals will be much easier to achieve. Leadership does not give someone the right to pass the blame onto others. This entails honesty in times of failure and guidance towards finding solutions. But among those who had been primed to think of themselves as powerful, the people with low moral-identity scores grabbed 7.

In surveys, the last group showed a greater understanding of how their actions would affect other people, which is the crucial mechanism, DeCelles says. Power led them to take a broader, more communally centered perspective. The experiment involving the adults found a similar relationship between moral identity, ethical behavior and innate aggressiveness. Low-power leaders had few choices with respect to abusing their power and high-power leaders were given more options.

We then allowed the leaders to take decisions about payouts. In the first experiment, results showed that high-power leaders took antisocial decisions at a significantly higher rate than low-power leaders. Prior to becoming leaders or followers, we asked participants to vote on what a responsible leader should do with respect to payouts.

Most endorsed the pro-social option; just 3. Yet, when they became leaders, participants succumbed to the corruptive effects of power. Interestingly, honest individuals were initially shielded from taking antisocial decisions — but, with time, even they slid down the slippery, corrupting slope of power. Even more interesting was our observation that those who had high levels of testosterone were most corrupt when they had high power.

Our findings have important implications for the design of institutions. Leaders prefer to have decision-making autonomy and lots of discretion.