When Power Stops Serving Decisions

“I’m not being me in the Boardroom.”

“I’m trying to be the last Chair.
Holding his lines.
Pushing his agendas.
Using power the way he did.

But it isn’t me.
And I know no one is really buying it.”

He said it simply.

Not incompetence.
Not lack of intent.

Performance.

Trying to lead from inherited behaviour rather than earned authority.
Harder still when the former Chair remains at the table.

And here’s the truth that rarely gets named:

Fake confidence and unclean ego do more damage in a Boardroom than inexperience ever will.

Not just relationally —
but structurally.

When power is used defensively, something subtle shifts.
Challenge tightens.
Risk narrows.
Directors begin to self-edit.
Decisions start forming before the room has truly spoken.

Governance doesn’t fail with noise.
It contracts.

Judgement gives way to control.
Performance softens — not because capability is missing, but because the conditions for good decision-making quietly disappear.

This Chair wasn’t unsafe because he hadn’t yet fully grown into the role.
He became at risk when that truth was hidden behind certainty and control.

Delegation tightened.
CEOs edited themselves.

Not because anyone was acting badly —
but because power was being protected, not used cleanly.

At one point he said:

“I thought I was protecting the organisation.
I didn’t realise how much I was constraining it.”

That’s when this landed for me — a line by Carl Jung I’ve held close for a long time:

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are.”

In the Chair role, that doesn’t mean rejecting what came before.
It means not performing it.

In my experience, the lack of self-awareness shown by ego-driven Chairs with fake confidence is damaging.
Authenticity — even with inexperience — earns far greater respect.

And it creates better governance.

Because shareholders expect decisions that are tested, not controlled.
Employees deserve leadership they can trust.
And Boards exist to steward long-term performance — not to protect identity through power.

Clean power isn’t borrowed.
It isn’t copied.
And it isn’t enforced.

It’s embodied.

And when it is, Boards don’t need alignment manufactured.
They make better decisions.
And organisations perform better as a result.

February Masterclass — An Invitation

If this resonated — quietly or uncomfortably — you’re not alone.

In February, I’m hosting a 45-minute Behavioural Governance Masterclass for Chairs and senior directors who want to strengthen how they hold the room when pressure rises and decisions matter.

We’ll explore:

• how behaviour shapes decision-making in real time

• where ego quietly distorts governance

• what clean authority actually looks like under pressure

This isn’t skills training or performance coaching.
It’s space to reflect, recalibrate, and lead with grounded authority.

View details and register here:
https://www.linkedin.com/events/7423977240973094912?viewAsMember=true

or here: February Masterclass Registration

If it’s for you, you’ll know.