Open Mouth

Open your mouth when eating the cookie.

 In his book, The No Asshole Rule, leadership author and Stanford professor Robert Sutton explains how leaders often exempt themselves from the behavioral norms they expect others to uphold. In one leadership study, two people were instructed to work on a problem-solving puzzle while another person was appointed their leader and told to direct their work.

 During the study, a researcher walks in with a plate of five cookies. Unbeknownst to the three people, this is the real study. Interestingly, leaders would often take two of the five cookies while the other people took one each.

 Worse, most leaders would eat with their mouths open!

 Unconsciously, when we’re in a position of leadership we feel entitled to live outside of the rules.