Guilt-Ridden People Make Great Leaders
Source: HBR
The finding: People who are prone to guilt tend to work harder and perform better than people who are not guilt-prone, and are perceived to be more capable leaders.
The research: Francis Flynn gave a standard psychological test, which measured the tendency to feel guilt, to about 150 workers in the finance department of a Fortune 500 firm and then compared their test results with their performance reviews. People who were more prone to guilt, he found, received higher performance ratings from their bosses. Related studies showed that they also were more committed to their organizations and were seen as stronger leaders by their peers.
The challenge: Is guilt good? Would companies benefit from putting more neurotic people, and fewer ultrarational types, into leadership roles?
Flynn: From a researcher’s perspective, the correlation is stunning. There’s a lot of “distance” between the TOSCA [Test of Self-Conscious Affect, which assesses guilt-proneness] and the performance measure. They’re completely independent. Yet in the research that my coauthor, Rebecca Schaumberg, and I have done, the link between guilt and performance is clearly there. Not only that—in a follow-up study we found that more guilt equaled more commitment. Those who felt guilty worked harder and were more likely to promote the organization to others. And one surprising finding was that guilt-ridden people were more likely to accept layoffs and carry them out.
HBR: Wouldn’t those people feel too guilty about the fact that other people were losing their jobs to handle layoffs well?
It’s not that they don’t feel guilty about laying people off; it’s that they feel obligated to support their employer, so they accept layoffs as a way to reduce costs. They feel it’s their job to be “good soldiers,” and if that means laying off a few to protect the interests of the many, that’s what they’ll do. In short, they’re more sensitive to the overall goals of the firm. They see the forest for the trees.
So guilt-prone people are hardworking high performers who believe in the organization and see the big picture. In other words, they’re leaders.
The finding: People who are prone to guilt tend to work harder and perform better than people who are not guilt-prone, and are perceived to be more capable leaders.
The research: Francis Flynn gave a standard psychological test, which measured the tendency to feel guilt, to about 150 workers in the finance department of a Fortune 500 firm and then compared their test results with their performance reviews. People who were more prone to guilt, he found, received higher performance ratings from their bosses. Related studies showed that they also were more committed to their organizations and were seen as stronger leaders by their peers.
The challenge: Is guilt good? Would companies benefit from putting more neurotic people, and fewer ultrarational types, into leadership roles?
Flynn: From a researcher’s perspective, the correlation is stunning. There’s a lot of “distance” between the TOSCA [Test of Self-Conscious Affect, which assesses guilt-proneness] and the performance measure. They’re completely independent. Yet in the research that my coauthor, Rebecca Schaumberg, and I have done, the link between guilt and performance is clearly there. Not only that—in a follow-up study we found that more guilt equaled more commitment. Those who felt guilty worked harder and were more likely to promote the organization to others. And one surprising finding was that guilt-ridden people were more likely to accept layoffs and carry them out.
HBR: Wouldn’t those people feel too guilty about the fact that other people were losing their jobs to handle layoffs well?
It’s not that they don’t feel guilty about laying people off; it’s that they feel obligated to support their employer, so they accept layoffs as a way to reduce costs. They feel it’s their job to be “good soldiers,” and if that means laying off a few to protect the interests of the many, that’s what they’ll do. In short, they’re more sensitive to the overall goals of the firm. They see the forest for the trees.
So guilt-prone people are hardworking high performers who believe in the organization and see the big picture. In other words, they’re leaders.
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