When Leadership Changes You—for the Worse | Ep. 99 | The Science of Leadership

What happens when succeeding in your leadership role requires you to become someone you don't recognize in the mirror? In this deeply reflective and philosophical episode of The Science of Leadership, co-hosts Dr. Tom Collins and Dr. Justin Hamrick tackle one of the hardest dilemmas in executive life: what to do when pressure, toxic cultures, or organizational constraints begin to degrade your personal character.

Opening with a warning from General Peter Pace (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) that organizations will inevitably change you for better or worse, Tom and Justin explore why good leaders slowly adopt defensive, cynical, or authoritarian behaviors under stress. Moving from Viktor Frankl’s principle of response agency to the harsh reality of self-inflicted ego traps, this conversation breaks down the diagnostic framework leaders need to evaluate whether they should adapt, change the culture, or make the ultimate act of leadership: stepping aside.

Key Discussion Points:

The Concentric Circles Diagnostic:

The Macro Context: Navigating external pressures like economic shifts, supply chains, and volatile regulatory environments that constrain your operational choices.

The Organization: How downsizing, resource cuts, and misaligned incentives force leaders into a high-stress survival mode driven by the amygdala and fight-or-flight instincts.

The People: The psychological toll of leading teams that lack capability or resist direction, and how irritation slowly replaces encouragement.

The Self (Center Circle): Confronting the harsh ego check—admitting that while external pressures exist, how you choose to respond is entirely your responsibility.

The Viktor Frankl Mirror: Drawing on Man’s Search for Meaning to remember that even when the macro environment, organization, and people are broken, the one thing within our control is our own response.

The Tree Metaphor: The Reed vs. The Oak: Why reactive leaders bend and warp like reeds under shifting pressures, while truly grounded leaders remain consistent anchors when the waves crash against them.

3 Foundational Psychological Literatures:

Self-Discrepancy Theory (E. Tory Higgins, 1987): The painful internal tension between who you actually are, who you idealize yourself to be, and who you believe you ought to be—and why that discomfort is a vital diagnostic signal.