The corner office. The executive parking spot. The special title on your door. These traditional symbols of leadership might be undermining your effectiveness in ways you don’t realize.
Power distance—the psychological and emotional space between leaders and their teams—is a double-edged sword. Too much distance, and you become isolated from crucial information and insights. Too little, and boundaries blur, potentially undermining your ability to make tough decisions.
Here’s the trap: many leaders unconsciously create greater power distance than they intend. Research shows that 60% of employees withhold critical information from their bosses because they perceive an intimidating power gap—even when leaders believe they’re approachable.
This invisible barrier creates what I call the “leader’s information deficit”—you make decisions based on sanitized, incomplete information that reaches your level, while the most valuable insights remain trapped at lower levels of the organization.
The most effective leaders I’ve worked with deliberately practice “strategic approachability”—carefully dismantling unnecessary power barriers while maintaining appropriate authority.
A hospital CEO I advised transformed his organization’s safety record by implementing “no-rank rounds”—walking the hospital floors without his white coat or title, asking frontline staff what worried them most about patient safety. The insights he gathered in these power-minimized interactions led to life-saving protocol changes that formal reporting channels had missed for years.
To navigate power distance effectively:
First, audit your power signals. Every email signature, office layout, and communication pattern sends messages about approachability. Are yours creating barriers you don’t intend?
Second, create structured “low-power moments” where team members can speak freely without fear of judgment or repercussion.
Third, practice “status-lowering” behaviors—like admitting what you don’t know, asking for help, or occasionally sharing appropriate personal struggles—that humanize you without undermining your leadership position.
When Adobe eliminated their annual performance review system in favor of regular “check-in” conversations, they discovered that equalizing the power dynamic in these discussions led to more honest feedback and faster performance improvements.
The power distance paradox is that your influence often increases when you deliberately reduce psychological barriers between yourself and your team. The key is finding the sweet spot—enough approachability to maintain information flow, with enough authority to lead effectively when decisions must be made.
Remember, the most powerful leaders aren’t those who maximize their power distance, but those who manage it strategically to serve their organizational goals.