Researchers who have studied superstar CEOs have noticed that as these people raise themselves up, they often lower others. They have a tendency to make their subordinates feel incompetent and underauthorized, which creates a vicious cycle. The employees increasingly withdraw, and as they do, the star CEO becomes pessimistic about their ability and begins to “overfunction,” causing their charges to withdraw even more. Tim Duncan’s style of leadership took the opposite course. By lowering himself, he was able to coax the maximum performance out of the players around him.
