What gets you to the top isn't what keeps you effective there.

What gets you to the top isn't what keeps you effective there. In fact, the very thing that comes with it often hinders you.

The validation that status and power attracts is intoxicating. When it's over-indulged, it becomes an impediment to seeing reality clearly. This distortion affects judgment, which affects everything else.

As you rise through the ranks, it takes increasing levels of humility to be truly effective. And not the false humility where you engage in performative gestures of servitude, or absolutely refusing to accept a well-earned compliment. But the humility to realise that you're not as special as you're being made out to be.

For the majority of the time, the interactions you partake in don't reflect the reality of who you are, they reflect the insecurity of the person that you're talking to. You may notice that others begin laughing a lot harder at your jokes. But you haven't actually become funnier. You may notice that people want to be around you more. But you haven't actually become more charismatic. You may notice that people want your opinion on everything, even if it sits outside of your lane of expertise. But you haven't all of a sudden become omniscient.

Your presence now becomes an obstacle. People all of a sudden begin performing or withdrawing when you're around, instead of just getting on with their work and being themselves.

The only real way to counter this is to step back further than your ego would prefer. Your leaders become the ones who carry your direction forward.

You let go of being the person everyone performs for, so your leaders can operate normally and the organisation can function clearly.