A new study from Wharton found that CEOs who score higher on narcissism indexes are also the most likely to oppose remote work. The researchers didn't just guess — they built a methodology using proxy measures: headshot size in the annual report, the pay gap between the executive and everyone else. And the results correlate with what a lot of employees have suspected for a long time. In this episode, we use that story to learn five C2-level expressions that will sharpen your English wherever precision matters.
⚡ 5 Key Expressions
Expression 01
Ulterior motive
A hidden reason behind a stated one — usually self-serving and deliberately concealed. The word ulterior comes from Latin, meaning something that exists beyond what is visible or admitted. A motive is a reason for doing something. Put them together and you get a reason someone has that they aren't telling you about. The implication is always slightly unflattering: the stated reason was a cover story, and the real driver was something more personal. You can use this seriously or with self-aware humor — either way, it always carries a note of suspicion.
- "The merger looked like a strategic partnership, but analysts suspected an ulterior motive — the acquirer wanted to eliminate a competitor."
- "He offered to drive me to the airport. Nice, but I suspect an ulterior motive — he wants to borrow my camping gear."
Expression 02
Plaster
To cover a surface completely, densely, and often obtrusively — with something that wasn't invited and that stands out. As a noun, plaster is the thick material spread over walls in construction. As a verb, it carries that same sense of total, unrestrained coverage — but also a contemptuous undertone. When you say someone plastered their face on something, you're implying they put their image everywhere aggressively and inescapably. The word tends to attach to things that feel imposed or excessive. You wouldn't say someone plastered good news somewhere — it's almost always used when the speaker finds the coverage excessive or unwelcome.
- "After the product launch, their logo was plastered across every bus and billboard in the city."
- "Her bedroom walls are plastered with concert posters — there's barely any paint visible."
Expression 03
Crave
To desire something with a compulsive, almost desperate pull — pitched somewhere between "want" and "need," but closer to need. You don't crave things you can take or leave. You crave things your body or ego pulls you toward relentlessly, whether you choose to or not. The word works best with things that are primal, emotional, or excessive: attention, validation, recognition, sugar, silence, chaos. It implies that the desire has some control over you, rather than the other way around. In the context of the Wharton study, executives who crave in-person admiration find remote work genuinely threatening — because a grid of muted Zoom cameras delivers nothing they need.
- "She craved the kind of intellectual challenge her previous role never gave her — which is why she left a higher salary for a smaller, faster-moving company."
- "It's been a long week. I crave pasta and complete silence."
Expression 04
Proxy
An indirect stand-in for something that can't be measured directly. When you can't observe a thing itself, you find something measurable that reliably reflects it — and that measurable thing is your proxy. In the Wharton study, researchers couldn't simply ask executives to rate their own narcissism. So they used proxies: the size of the CEO's headshot in the annual report, the pay gap between the executive and the average employee. These are things you can count, and they serve as indirect indicators of ego. The word transfers beautifully beyond academia — into finance, politics, and everyday conversation anywhere precision is valued.
- "Customer satisfaction scores are really just a proxy for whether people will come back — they don't tell you why."
- "Honestly, my coffee order is a proxy for how stressed I am. Triple shot means deadline week."
Expression 05
Correlate with
To have a consistent statistical relationship with something — when one thing changes, the other tends to change in a predictable direction. This looks deceptively simple, but it is one of the most misused constructions in English. The critical nuance: correlation is not causation. Two things can correlate — move together — without one causing the other. The Wharton study found that CEO narcissism scores correlate with anti-WFH attitudes, but that is not the same as saying narcissism causes RTO mandates. There may be other factors involved. Using correlate with rather than causes or leads to signals intellectual precision and epistemic honesty. Always followed by with — not to, not for.
- "Our research found that employee autonomy correlates with retention rates — though the causal mechanism still isn't fully understood."
- "My mood on Monday morning correlates pretty strongly with how the weekend went."
🎭 The Dialogue: Into the Office
Maya works in strategy and Alex is in organizational development. They're in the office — because they have to be — grabbing coffee before a nine o'clock. The conversation turns to a new company-wide return-to-office mandate, and things get unexpectedly philosophical.
📍 Office kitchen, 8:50 AM. Maya is already on her second coffee. Alex walks in looking resigned.
Maya: Did you see the all-hands email from the CEO? Full five-day RTO starting next month. No exceptions.
Alex: I saw it. To be honest, I think there might be an ulterior motive behind all this.
Maya: What do you mean? He keeps saying it's about collaboration and culture.
Alex: Sure. But have you noticed how he plasters his photo on every internal newsletter, every hallway screen, every company update?
Maya: Now that you mention it — yes. It's a lot.
Alex: There's research showing that kind of behavior correlates with narcissistic tendencies. The need to be seen.
Maya: So the RTO mandate is basically a proxy for ego?
Alex: That's the theory. People who crave that kind of in-person admiration find remote work genuinely threatening.
Maya: Wow. I came in for coffee and left with an existential crisis about leadership.
🧠 Episode Quiz
Can you answer this?
The word "narcissism" comes from Greek mythology. There is a character named Narcissus. What does he do in the original myth?
✅ Answer: B — Narcissus sees his own reflection in a pool and becomes so transfixed that he cannot leave. Depending on the version of the myth, he either wastes away staring at himself or drowns trying to embrace the image. His name gave us narcissism: excessive self-love and preoccupation with one's own image and importance. Option A describes Prometheus. Option C describes Marsyas — and his fate was considerably worse than drowning.
📚 Bonus Vocabulary
All-hands (adjective) — involving every member of an organization, without exception. An all-hands meeting or all-hands email goes to the entire company — all hands on deck. The phrase comes from nautical language, where "all hands" meant every sailor was required on deck. "The CEO called an all-hands meeting to announce the restructuring — which is never a reassuring sign."
Narcissism index (noun phrase) — a composite score built from measurable proxy indicators of executive ego, such as pay disparity and photo prominence in company materials. Used in organizational psychology research. The concept generalizes: any time you build a score from indirect indicators, you're constructing an index. "The researchers created a narcissism index from publicly available data — no self-reporting required."
Transfixed (adjective) — completely unable to move or look away, as if held in place by something. Used to describe intense fascination that borders on paralysis. "She stood transfixed at the window as the storm rolled in — she didn't even hear her phone ring."
