Previous research has highlighted our tendency to assume fortunate outcomes were the result of skill and fortitude, thus downplaying the role luck may have played. Similarly, we tend to give greater weight to successes achieved in benign circumstances than we do more modest outcomes in much more challenging circumstances.

Research from the USC Marshall School of Business reminds us that, as leaders, it would be unwise to hog too much of the limelight for such successes.

Taking responsibility

The researchers analyzed around 23,000 media articles featuring over 350 CEOs. They found that when bosses take personal responsibility for unexpected successes, they’re also far more likely to be personally blamed for any negative results in the future. By contrast, when leaders take a more humble approach and spread the credit around for any successes, they’re less likely to have responsibility for failures heaped on their shoulders.

This phenomenon is largely driven by psychological anchoring, as when CEOs gladly push the narrative that outcomes were driven by their own strategic choices and downplay any external factors in their firm’s performance, then this is also likely to be the case when any negative outcomes emerge.

These biased judgments can then have a considerable influence on the views formed both by the public and the media, such that when circumstances change and things start to go wrong, boards are much more likely to sack the boss rather than view their tenure in a fairer light.

As a result, the researchers believe that leaders would be wiser to take a somewhat longer-term approach to impression management and avoid the temptation to take all of the praise for any successes.