When Power Corrupts: How Despotic Leaders Inspire Employees to Impress for Status

What is it about?

This study explores how exposure to despotic leadership—leaders who are self-serving, controlling, and morally corrupt—affects employees’ status within the workplace. It investigates how employees may use ingratiatory behavior, or deliberate efforts to please their supervisors, to improve their standing among peers. The research also considers how this process is shaped by two personal traits: power distance orientation, which reflects how much employees accept hierarchical authority, and self-enhancement motive, or the desire to maintain a positive self-image. Using three-wave, multisource data from employees and peers in Pakistani organizations, the study finds that under despotic leaders, employees often use ingratiation tactics—flattery, compliance, and visible loyalty—to protect themselves and gain favor. Ironically, these behaviors can raise their peer-rated status, as coworkers view them as influential or close to leadership. This tendency, and its success, are stronger among employees who value hierarchy and prioritize self-promotion. For organizations, these findings reveal a troubling paradox: destructive leadership can indirectly reward manipulative behavior, giving employees incentives to impress rather than perform. Over time, this can distort organizational culture, shifting focus from ethical conduct to political maneuvering. To counter this, leaders should promote fairness, humility, and integrity at the top, while HR managers should train employees to navigate authority ethically and resist pressures to rely on impression-based strategies for advancement.

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Photo by Frederica Diamanta on Unsplash

Photo by Frederica Diamanta on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study is unique in identifying ingratiatory behavior as a mechanism linking despotic leadership to higher workplace status, while demonstrating how power distance orientation and self-enhancement motives amplify this effect. It contributes to business ethics research by showing how destructive leadership can unintentionally produce advantageous outcomes for employees who engage in impression management, creating moral tensions within organizations. Its timeliness lies in addressing the persistent issue of toxic leadership in organizations in Pakistan and elsewhere, where cultural norms of hierarchy can make despotic behaviors more tolerable. By clarifying how unethical leaders can foster self-serving conduct among followers, the study provides critical insights into how organizations can protect ethical integrity and ensure that success is based on merit rather than manipulation.