Article: The Dean’s Disease
Link:http://www.business.unr.edu/faculty/simmonsb/badm720/deansdisease.pdf
This article talks about how power creates strong psychological changes in people, in the case focusing on college deans. It gives some very good advice on selecting deans that will not abuse their power and also has great points for an individual to follow to not let power go to their head.
One of my pet peeves is saying power changes people. It really allows a person the freedom to become who they choose to be. In other words, power does not change the person, it only changes their behavior. The article backs this up when it provide very effective principles to evaluate potential deans. The author’s advice is to not choose someone who will behave badly once they achieve a position of power. The author contradicts his earlier assessment that power changes the person psychologically.
