Rice Business Partners Roundtable Series

Power Trip: How Gaining Power Undermines the Ability to Lead

Join Rice Business Partners and Professor Marlon Mooijman on Thursday, November 17 at 11:30 am - 1:00 pm CT. Professor Marlon Mooijman will share his research on the relationship between power and distrust. He will argue that having power makes managers more distrusting, which creates a self-perpetuating negative loop: managers with power tend to distrust subordinates, which makes them rely on punishment strategies that motivate rule-breaking behavior from these subordinates. Managers can break this cycle by explicitly trusting and accepting vulnerability to subordinates’ actions.

Professor Mooijman’s findings have practical implications for managers, leaders and policymakers to actively cultivate trusting relationships and wield power wisely.

This Faculty Roundtable is hosted by Rice Business Partners and is open to all Rice Business students, Rice Business alumni, Rice University alumni, Rice Business Partner members, and the general public. Registrants can submit questions related to the topic for Professor Mooijman's consideration through this form; question submission will close at 5 pm CT on November 12, 2022.