‘Coldplaygate’: CEO’s resignation sparks debate on workplace affairs • FRANCE 24 English

Well, last week much of the world’s social media was dominated by a video. I’m sure you saw it, of astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his head of HR getting caught on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert in Boston. In a matter of just a few hours, that clip of the couple trying but failing to duck out of the spotlight was everywhere. Well, since then, the CEO, who is married with children, has resigned. The chief people officer, Kristen Kbat, is now on leave from astronomer. But the fallout from that viral video has certainly generated a lot more talk about things like ethics, accountability, and the repercussions that conflicts of interest among leadership can cause. We’re going to talk about that now with consultant Nick Kinley, who joins me from London. Nick, your new book is coming out next month. It’s called The Power Trap: How Leadership Changes People and What to Do About It. So, you’re well placed to talk about all of this. Thank you so much for joining us on Friends 24. Thanks very much for having me on. All right, Nick. This uh might be perhaps the most exposed act of an alleged affair linked to a person in power that we’ve seen, but it’s definitely far from the first one we’ve seen. Why do so many leaders seem to get caught up in situations like this? Well, every leadership role it well, it’s all about power. Every leadership role contains an element of power and every leader is affected by the power that they hold. And we know that power does two things to us in particular. So first of all, power makes us more disinhibited. So we become more driven by what’s inside us, more likely to act on what we truly think and feel. And some of the consequences of this are harmless. We know that power holders are more likely to smile if they’re feeling happy. They tend to laugh louder if they’re than those with without power. But they’re also more likely to express negative emotions. And no matter what they’re feeling, their decision-making is more likely to be influenced by their emotions. And that means that they’re more likely to be led by what they want. They’re more likely to prioritize personal goals. And they’re more likely to be influenced by their desires and passions. Now, that’s the first thing. The second thing is that we know that power makes people more likely to take risks. And that’s both in work and out of work. Now in work that can be good. We know that powerful CEOs are more likely to pursue innovative products. They’re more likely to pursue um M&A. They’re more likely to pursue risk-taking strategies that uh deliver greater value for their organizations. Out of work, we know they’re also likely to pursue more risky behavior. There’s some fun studies showing that um leaders who feel more powerful are more likely to draw a card in a game of blackjack. But it also means that leaders who feel more powerful are more likely when when we know as well that they’re more likely to be disinhibited to engage in unprotected sex and yes to engage in acts of infidelity. And this is true for both men and women. So leaders of both genders are affected. And that’s why we see these stories again and again and again. It’s why we see it in celebrities. It’s why we see it in CEOs. And it’s why one of the biggest stories in the world at the moment is people in the US looking for the truth about sex parties for the rich and famous. Absolutely. We certainly saw that with what was happening in New York with the P. Diddy trial. Uh what about on the flip side? I mean, why do you think people are attracted to power? I mean, some might argue that that when you have so many people, for example, throwing themselves at someone because they are in power, it just might be easier for the person in power to say yes. Yeah. Um there’s there’s no doubt about it that that when you’ve got power, it makes certain things easier for you, right? Um it certainly throws open um options to you that you probably don’t have when you’re not powerful. That’s why we’ve got this old phrase out there that power corrupts because it makes behavior easier. So, so certain types of behavior that we might see as as inappropriate easier to do, right? So, it becomes easier to take money, it becomes easier to engage in acts of infid in infidelity if if people are throwing at you, right? You’re more likely to be bribed if you can give someone something. If you’ve got power, you are more likely to appear attractive to someone if you are if you have power. There’s lots of studies out there uh showing that. And so, hence, we’ve got this idea that power corrupts. But I don’t really believe that, right? Because there’s plenty of people who have power who don’t fall to this type of of of a behavior. So, I think actually every time that we say power corrupts, we’re actually almost excusing people who badly. Nick, I’m sorry to jump in just very briefly before you go because our time is short. I mean, just one ethical question. There are some people in some cultures, for example, here in France, who might argue that perhaps it’s not a company’s business what its employees do when they’re not working. What do you have to say to that in just 30 seconds? Sure, I can understand that. But if you see someone that is being influenced by their power, right? So if power is leading them to behave in this way, it is highly unlikely that they are just making this one bad decision. It is likely that power is leading them to make a whole raft of bad decisions. So it is the business’s business because if they’re making this bad this bad decision to go and behave like this outside of work, they’re probably making a whole host of bad decisions inside work as well. Nick, thank you so much. Well said. Nick Kenley, your new book is The Power Trap. How leadership changes people and what to do about it comes out next month. Thanks so much for your time.

Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigned following a viral “kiss cam” incident at a Coldplay concert in Boston. The video, which showed Byron and HR head Kristin Cabot embracing, raised questions about workplace relationships and ethics. France 24 invited psychologist and author Nikolas Kinley to discuss the implications of power dynamics and personal conduct in professional settings.
#CEO #ColdplayGate #Astronomer

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6 comments

  3. It makes some things easier not all the job itself comes with lots for hard things like keeping people on your side so you don't lose it

  6. CEOs cheat…that's what they typically do to their employees… they cheat their employees of practically everything. So this behaviour isn't surprising.

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