Will I love Bad Leadership?

In a world in which dictators and authoritarian leaders are all too prevalent, Barbara Kellerman offers keen insights into the roots and practices of “bad” leadership. A prolific leadership scholar and commentator, she deftly links leadership and power—especially the abuse of power.  

Like Barbara, I see power as neither a bad nor a good force. Most leaders seek power—sometimes for themselves and their group alone, but often to accomplish something widely beneficial. Meanwhile, followers may hope to increase their power by supporting leaders they see as powerful. Yet, individuals and groups that attain unchecked power all too often damage their… show more.

There is a genre in academic leadership writing that automatically correlates leadership with positive outcomes, to the point where anything deleterious is relegated to something other than leadership: the land of tyrants, psychopaths, and the like – the so-called ‘Hitler problem’. But this is to deny three crucial aspects of leadership: one, we cannot simply judge the morality of leaders by our own standards; two, many very successful leaders have indeed been tyrants; and three, all leaders embody a wide range of behaviors and actions that necessarily lead to good and less good outcomes. This book provides a thorough review… show more.