TY - GEN
T1 - Deconstructing the Appeal of Toxic Leaders
AU - Hansbrough, Tiffany Keller
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - The results of the 2016 United States presidential election continue to puzzle many observers searching for a mechanism to explain the appeal of such an atypical candidate. Indeed, several authors have observed that Donald Trump displays behaviors that are associated with a narcissistic personality disorder (http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/opinions/trump-campaign-narcissism-lipman/; McAdams, The mind of Donald Trump, The Atlantic, 2016; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/22/is-donald-trump-a-textbook-narcissist/?utm_term=.80214dd189cd). These analyses focus on who the leader is rather than why followers endorse such a leader. Likewise, leadership researchers have begun to explore the “dark side” of leadership (Lipman-Blumen, The allure of toxic leaders: why we follow destructive bosses and politicians and how we can survive them, Oxford University Press, 2005; Kellerman, Bad leadership, Harvard Business School Press, 2004). Here, I argue that a focus on followers provides a better understanding of the appeal of toxic leaders. The appeal of toxic leaders stems from several factors, including implicit leadership theories, parental models of leadership, collusive relationships, as well as denigration out-groups. Taken together, followers play a crucial role in the legitimization of toxic leaders.
AB - The results of the 2016 United States presidential election continue to puzzle many observers searching for a mechanism to explain the appeal of such an atypical candidate. Indeed, several authors have observed that Donald Trump displays behaviors that are associated with a narcissistic personality disorder (http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/opinions/trump-campaign-narcissism-lipman/; McAdams, The mind of Donald Trump, The Atlantic, 2016; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/22/is-donald-trump-a-textbook-narcissist/?utm_term=.80214dd189cd). These analyses focus on who the leader is rather than why followers endorse such a leader. Likewise, leadership researchers have begun to explore the “dark side” of leadership (Lipman-Blumen, The allure of toxic leaders: why we follow destructive bosses and politicians and how we can survive them, Oxford University Press, 2005; Kellerman, Bad leadership, Harvard Business School Press, 2004). Here, I argue that a focus on followers provides a better understanding of the appeal of toxic leaders. The appeal of toxic leaders stems from several factors, including implicit leadership theories, parental models of leadership, collusive relationships, as well as denigration out-groups. Taken together, followers play a crucial role in the legitimization of toxic leaders.
KW - Followers
KW - Individual differences
KW - Toxic leaders
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85125398543
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-58589-5_2
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-58589-5_2
M3 - Conference contribution
SN - 9783319585888
T3 - Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics
SP - 15
EP - 20
BT - Emerging Challenges in Business, Optimization, Technology, and Industry - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Business Management and Technology, 2017
A2 - Tadj, Lotfi
A2 - Garg, Ajay K.
PB - Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
T2 - 3rd International Conference on Business Management and Technology, 2017
Y2 - 27 February 2017 through 28 February 2017
ER -