Book contents
- Hubris, Ancient and Modern
- Hubris, Ancient and Modern
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword: Hubris in Politics The Rt Hon Lord David Owen
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Hybris in Classical Greece
- Part II Hubris in Contemporary Psychology and Neuroscience
- Part III Hubris in Business, Leadership and Management
- Chapter 8 Twenty-First-Century Hubris
- Chapter 9 Overreaching Leaders
- Chapter 10 Hubris and Leadership
- Chapter 11 Hubristic Entrepreneurial Leadership
- Chapter 12 Hubris in Business Organisations
- References
- Index
Chapter 9 - Overreaching Leaders
Towards an Integrative Framework of CEO Hubris
from Part III - Hubris in Business, Leadership and Management
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2025
With
Foreword by
Book contents
- Hubris, Ancient and Modern
- Hubris, Ancient and Modern
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword: Hubris in Politics The Rt Hon Lord David Owen
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Hybris in Classical Greece
- Part II Hubris in Contemporary Psychology and Neuroscience
- Part III Hubris in Business, Leadership and Management
- Chapter 8 Twenty-First-Century Hubris
- Chapter 9 Overreaching Leaders
- Chapter 10 Hubris and Leadership
- Chapter 11 Hubristic Entrepreneurial Leadership
- Chapter 12 Hubris in Business Organisations
- References
- Index
Summary
CEO hubris is a vital construct in research on the psychology of organisational decision-makers. Hubristic CEOs influence strategic decisions, from acquisitions to product and geographic market entry. To date, research has mainly focused on how and when CEO hubris impacts CEOs and their organisations. I offer a framework in which CEOs predisposed to inflated self-evaluation engage in behavioural processes that yield overconfident strategic decisions associated with hubris. The framework reviews and summarises how such evaluations stem from CEOs’ psychological and social circumstances. It then links inflated self-evaluation to the three drivers of over-confidence that are associated with hubris: over-estimation, or the tendency to exaggerate prospective outcomes; over-placement, or the tendency to rank one’s capabilities and situation ahead of others; and over-precision, or the tendency to issue unduly bounded or narrow forecasts which tend to be inaccurate. The framework is illustrated by the case study of Elizabeth Holmes, formerly founder and CEO of Theranos, who was lauded as a celebrity entrepreneur before being convicted of crimes associated with her hubris.
Information
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- Chapter
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- Hubris, Ancient and ModernConcepts, Comparisons, Connections, pp. 180 - 191Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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