I don't have experience to back it up, but I'd think you'd be aware of your PoLR around your benefactor. They need something from you that you know you can't supply very well. (You can only supply it mechanically and don't have any real confidence in it since it's 1-dimensional). And this makes you feel powerless around them.
Although you probably do have some control over your benefactor since they value your leading function, that control probably fades when the benefactor realizes it's being directed towards a goal they don't value (your creative, their ignoring).
[EDIT: and around your supervisor, but that was already mentioned].