There’s an intriguing relationship between self-awareness and power:
There are relatively few gaps between one’s own and others’ ratings among lower-level employees. But the higher someone’s position in an organization, the bigger the gap. Self-awareness seems to diminish with promotions up the organization’s ladder. One theory: That gap widens because as people rise in power within an organization the circle shrinks of others willing or courageous enough to speak to them honestly about their quirks. Then there are those who simply deny their deficits, or can’t see them in the first place.
— Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (Daniel Goleman), Loc. 931–6