In praise of leaders. (2014) We badly need leaders, but human beings have come to realise power is a two-edged sword.

“We need leaders, and we need leaders with the appetite for it. Leaders need to get satisfaction from wielding power because if they don’t, they will not experience the pharmacological benefits

Professor Ian Robertson, Professor of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin

Posted on his blog ‘The Winner Effect’, 28 March 2014

“We need leaders, and we need leaders with the appetite for it. Leaders need to get satisfaction from wielding power because if they don’t, they will not experience the pharmacological benefits of power: power is an antidepressant, and anti-anxiety drug. This is because power increases testosterone in people who have the appetite for it, and testosterone increases the brain’s chemical messenger dopamine, leading to increased optimism, strategic thinking and ‘vision’.

“But while we badly need leaders who can withstand the stresses of their job, over the last thousand years human beings have gradually come to realise that power is a two-edged sword.”

Access this blog post here: In praise of leaders