A toxic leader is a person who abuses the

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

– follower relationship by leaving the group or organization in a worse condition than it was in originally. Toxic leaders therefore create an environment that may be detrimental to employees, thus lowering overall morale in the organization.

History

In his 1994 journal article "Petty Tyranny in Organizations" Blake Ashforth discussed potentially destructive sides of

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and identified what he referred to as "petty tyrants", i.e. leaders who exercise a tyrannical style of management, resulting in a

climate of fear Culture of fear (or climate of fear) is the concept which describes the pervasive feeling of fear in a given group, often due to actions taken by leaders. The term was popularized by Frank Furedi and has been more recently popularized by the ...

in the workplace. In 1996 Marcia Lynn Whicker popularized the term "toxic leader".

Basic traits

The basic traits of a toxic leader are generally considered to be either/or insular, intemperate, glib, operationally rigid, callous, inept,

discriminatory Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexu ...

corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

or aggressive by scholars such as Barbara Kellerman.

Psychopathy

Characteristics that may be present in a toxic leader include those classically associated with psychopathy. There has been a substantial increase in media and academic interest in psychopathy within the workplace. This growing attention has often outpaced the available scientific research, leading to widespread assertions about the harmful effects of workplace psychopathy that are not yet fully supported by empirical evidence. A study by

Scott Lilienfeld Scott Owen Lilienfeld (December 23, 1960 – September 30, 2020) was a professor of psychology at Emory University and advocate for Evidence-based practice, evidence-based treatments and methods within the field. He is known for his books ''50 G ...

and others examined the associations psychopathy had with occupational and academic differences, workplace aggression and counterproductive behaviors, ethical decision-making in corporate environments, white-collar crime, and leadership. While preliminary findings suggest that psychopathy may be linked to various negative workplace outcomes, there are also isolated indications of potential benefits.

Other traits

The United States Army defines toxic leaders as commanders who put their own needs first, micro-manage subordinates, behave in a mean-spirited manner or display poor decision-making. A study for the Center for Army Leadership found that toxic leaders in the army work to promote themselves at the expense of their subordinates, and usually do so without considering long-term ramifications to their subordinates, their unit, and the Army profession. Ashforth proposed the following six characteristics to define petty tyranny: #

Arbitrariness Arbitrariness is the quality of being "determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle". It is also used to refer to a choice made without any specific criterion or restraint. Arbitrary decisions are not necess ...

and self-aggrandizement # Belittling of

subordinates A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

# Lack of consideration for others # A forcing style of

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

# Discouragement of

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

# Noncontingent use of

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

: that is, punishment (e.g. displeasure or criticism) allotted without discernible or consistent principles; not dependent on, or necessarily associated with, undesirable behaviors. The '' setting up to fail'' procedure is in particular a well established

workplace bullying Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes physical and/or emotional harm. It includes verbal, nonverbal Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a non ...

tactic that a toxic leader can use against his rivals and subordinates. Heavy running costs and a high staff turnover/overtime rate are often also associated with employee related results of a toxic leader.

References

Notes Bibliography * Kellerman, Barbara (2004) ''Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters'' Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Review Press. * Lipman-Blumen, Jean (2006) ''The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians—and How We Can Survive Them'' Oxford University Press. * Price, Terry L. (2005) ''Understanding Ethical Failures in Leadership'' (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Further reading * Jha, Srirang and Jha, Shweta (June 2015) "Leader as Anti-Hero: Decoding Nuances of Dysfunctional Leadership" ''Journal of Management & Public Policy'' * Warneka, Timothy H. (2005) ''Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today''. Asogomi Publishing International. * Whicker, Marcia Lynn (1996) ''Toxic Leaders: When Organizations Go Bad''. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books. * Williams, Christopher (2006) ''Leadership Accountability in a Globalizing World''. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

External links