Originally found at Fast Company, by Stephanie Vozza

Two heads are better than one, but there can only be one top dog—and for good reason. When high-ranking leaders work together, turnover and worsened organizational performance often result, finds a new study presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management. But the problem isn’t ego; it’s paranoia.

In a set of experiments, Lindred L. Greer, associate professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Emma Y. Zhao, postdoctoral fellow at Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, examined the kinds of struggles that happen in high-powered versus low-powered teams. They divided a group of individuals into random two-person teams; half of the teams were told that they were high-powered marketing managers, and the other half were told that they were less-than-powerful marketing consultants. Groups were assigned to develop responsibilities and logistics for an upcoming project. The researchers found that the high-power duos were significantly more likely to engage in power struggles, lowering their success negotiating with each other.

Continue reading original article at Fast Company.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Emma Y. Zhao, Carnegie Mellon U.Stanford GSB
• Lindred L. Greer, Carnegie Mellon U.Stanford GSB