Being a modern leader has a stronger performative element than ever

There’s always been an element of performance with power. You’ve always had to create a good impression, and present and speak well. But more than ever, you have to watch what you say. And more than ever, you're expected to. Leadership has become a performance art.

The importance of image allows me to – rather gratuitously – shoehorn in two of my favourite studies. The first was a giant meta-analysis – a study of studies – which discovered that one of the few things that predict success more than someone’s intelligence is their ability to make themselves sound intelligent. The second looked at the physical attractiveness of coup-installed leaders. I’m not sure doing that would have ever occurred to me. But the researchers discovered that more attractive coup-installed leaders retained power longer after successfully ousting the incumbent than their less attractive counterparts. And as fun as both these studies are, they show just how important having a positive image is. Because being capable is great, but looking like it is even better.

Controlling the narrative

The fact that it’s becoming more this way is perhaps most visible in politicians. There was a time when media training for politicians was a niche thing, focused on helping key people present key ideas. Nowadays, with news media constantly looking for headline-grabbing quotes, the price of saying the wrong thing has become much more severe. And in the face of this, managing the media has become an essential survival skill. So, the art of politics is still about influencing, but it's less about persuasion and more about controlling the narrative.

• Read more: how startups can scale and “change the world”

It’s not much different for corporate leaders. CEOs' presence in the media has surged, with some achieving celebrity status. And for everyone else, larger, more international businesses, flatter structures and the rise of highly matrixed firms have all led to more complex organisational politics. Adding to this, we now have the rise of organisational narcissism, too. This is the tendency for institutions to seek visible loyalty from their members or employees, and to emphasise the importance of everyone being aligned and on the same page. Again, this has always been the case to some degree, but it's becoming more so. And it is a tendency that is being normalised and reinforced by recent high-profile political leaders appearing to prize loyalty over competence. So, organisations are becoming more political, and the nature of the politics is changing. And in this environment, impression management has become both a required skill and a differentiator.

Wrapped around all of this, we have broader cultural shifts, too, such as the rise of alternative facts, social media and cancel culture. All of which have made exercising power more difficult. For example, the need for leaders to create a sense of confidence in their audience has meant there's always been pressure on them to put a positive spin on things. To talk a good talk and persuade people of their position. But the rise of spin doctoring and alternative facts has amplified and extended this to the point of undermining trust, especially in political leaders.