Temat: LEADERSHIP CAN BE TOXIC!

A toxic leader (wiki definition) is someone who has responsibility over a group of people or an organization, and who abuses the leader-follower relationship by leaving the group or organization in a worse-off condition than when s/he first found them.

In her book, "The Allure of Toxic Leaders : Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians--and How We Can Survive Them ", Professor Jean Blumen-Lippman explains that there is a tendency among contemporary society to seek authoritative, even dominating characteristics among our corporate and political leaders because of our own psychosocial needs.

Toxic leaders behave as if they are exempt from the normal demands of morality that applies to the rest of us. Some have suggested that the reason leaders misbehave ethically is because they willingly go against what they know to be wrong. Professor Terry L. Price however, offers an alternative analysis of leaders who excuse themselves from normally applicable moral requirements. In "Understanding Ethical Failures in Leaders," Price argues that the volitional account of moral failures in leaders do not provide a complete account of this phenomenon. He argues that a cognitive account for ethical failures in leaders provides a better analysis of the issues involved in all the ethical connundrums under the rubric of "toxic leadership".

For more, consult:
* Blumen-Lippman, Jean. The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians--and How We Can Survive Them Oxford University Press, USA (September, 2004).
* Price, Terry L. Understanding Ethical Failures in Leadership (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy), Cambridge University Press (August, 2005).

Williams, Christopher Leadership accountability in a globalizing world London: palgrave Macmillan, (2006)