McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter Fifteen

The Negative (Dark) Side of

Leadership

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Reading 36

The Two Faces of Leadership: Considering the Dark Side of Leader-Follower Dynamics Leadership’s positive face

Two themes emerge from this theory Leadership involves moral purpose

Followers play a rather passive role

Effective leadership can promote social good and social disaster as well

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Leadership’s Negative Face

A failure to look inside A leader must take special responsibility for what’s

going on inside his or her own self

Mirroring The tendency to see themselves as perceived by

their followers and to feel they must act to satisfy the projections of followers

Narcissism – A distorted view of self

Emotional illiteracy – Inability to differentiate and verbalize emotion

Unwillingness to let go – Knowing they no longer fit the demands of the job

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Followership’s Negative Face

There are two ways in which followers can affect leader-follower dynamics Through personal traits that followers carry into the

influence process

The synergy that emerges through leaders and follower interaction

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The Search for Exemplary Followers

Kelly (1992) classified followers behaviors using two dimensional taxonomy into 5 styles Exemplary Conformist Passive Alienated Pragmatist

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Follower Syndromes

Dispositions that, at a relatively pathological level, can have serious consequences for the health of leader-follower relationships Controlling Histrionic Passive-aggressive Dependency Masochism

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Rethinking Leader-Follower Relations

Leaders can misperceive and act in inappropriate ways, followers may contribute significantly to those misperceptions and misguided actions

Leadership needs to be treated as influence reflecting power over others

Leaders and followers need to work at: Understanding themselves Understanding their own personalities Being open to all forms of information and feedback

Leaders need to be sensitive to what follower behaviors are really saying

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Reading 37

The Dark Side of Leadership

Three skill areas can contribute to leadership inadequacies: Leaders’ strategic vision

Communications and impression-management skills

General management practices

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Table 1

The Sources of Failed Vision

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How Leaders Come to DenyFlaws in Their Visions

The denial of flaws can be explained by cognitive dissonance This prevents the leader from changing his course

Others in the organization who tend to become dependent on a visionary leader may perpetuate the problem through their own actions

Problems with “group-think” can occur where the leader’s advisors delude themselves into agreement with the leader or dominant others

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Table 2 Potential Liabilities in the Leader’s Communications and Impression Management Skills

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Table 3

Potential Liabilities of a Leader’s Management Practices

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Communication and Managing Sideways

Leaders’ aggressive style may alienate many potential supporters This is common when charismatic leaders are

brought in from the outside The tendency of certain leaders to cultivate a

feeling of being “special” among members of their operating units leads to an “us versus them” mentality

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Subordinate Relations and Administrative Skills

At times, there is an impulsive dynamic at work in the way leaders manage They tend to override subordinates’ suggestions or

insights

Another problem can be informal management, which can violate the chain of command

Some visionary leaders are so absorbed by the “big picture” that they fail to understand essential details Leaders may get so caught up in corporate stardom

that they become absentee leaders

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Succession Problems

It is difficult for others with leadership potential to develop fully in the shadow of a true leader Leaders enjoy the limelight too much to share it;

when they depart, a leadership vacuum is created

Under charismatic leadership, authority may be highly centralized around the leader This arrangement weakens the authority

structures that are normally dispersed throughout an organization