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TRANSCRIPT
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Fifteen
The Negative (Dark) Side of
Leadership
15-2
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
15-3
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
15-4
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
15-5
The Search for Exemplary Followers
Kelly (1992) classified followers behaviors using two dimensional taxonomy into 5 styles Exemplary Conformist Passive Alienated Pragmatist
15-6
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
15-7
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
15-8
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
15-10
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
15-13
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
15-14
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
15-15
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