Leadership: Stress and hubris

Abstract

Why do some leaders, from all walks of life, succumb to hubris - arrogance, overweening pride and contempt for others? These questions were the focus of 'Leadership: stress and hubris', a conference organised by the Daedalus Trust in conjunction with the British Psychological Society at the Royal Society of Medicine in London in November 2014. Delegates heard about the psychological and biological effects of stress in triggering hubristic behaviour in leaders and possible ways to check its malign effects. Joy Ogden reports.