AA243 - How Corporate Turns Good People Bad: The Neuroscience of Power Corruption

Does getting promoted literally rewire your brain to lose empathy?

The science says YES. 🧠

In this research-backed episode of Arguing Agile, Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Consultant Om Patel examine the unsettling neuroscience behind why your favorite coworker turned into a corporate tyrant after their last promotion.

Drawing from peer-reviewed studies in the Journal of Experimental Psychology and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, watch or listen as we explore three mechanisms that erode empathy in leadership positions (and talk through how to evade entropy).

🔬 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
• How power physically changes your brain chemistry and reduces your ability to read emotions
• Why narcissistic individuals rise faster through corporate ranks (and how to spot them)
• How socioeconomic class divides create empathy blind spots in leaders
• Practical guardrails to maintain your integrity as you advance

Whether you're a product manager, agile coach, or aspiring leader, this episode will help you recognize the warning signs of empathy erosion in yourself and others... before it's too late!

Have you watched someone change after a promotion? Let us know!

RESEARCH:
• "Power Changes How the Brain Responds to Others" (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2014)
• "Social Class, Contextualism, and Empathic Accuracy" (2010)
• Prosocial orientation and power amplification studies (JPSP, 2011)

#Leadership #CorporateCulture #WorkplacePsychology

Journal of Experimental Psychology (2014) - Power Changes How the Brain Responds to Others, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2011) - Prosocial Orientation and Power Study, Social Class Contextualism and Empathic Accuracy (2010), Hittner & Haase (2021) - Empathic Accuracy and SES Study, Management 3.0 - 360 Reviews, Good to Great by Jim Collins (implied - wrong people wrong seats metaphor), Die Hard (film reference), Elon Musk Twitter/X takeover, Sheryl Sandberg (referenced), Glassdoor

LINKS
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: https://arguingagile.com/

INTRO MUSIC
Toronto Is My Beat
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)