In my book, Transforming Toxic Leaders, I directly delve into this dark side and disclose complex and twisted minds, destructive emotions and corporate misbehavior. I unveil some brilliant yet difficult leaders who appear to cut deals with both angels and demons. Their innovations and smarts win many followers but their bad behavior emanates and poisons colleagues and operations. They are equal opportunity toxic leaders.

Ask aeronautical engineers, Joan Farber, Doug Smythe and Adriane Malmon at Pluto Engineering Ltd. They were initially mesmerized by their CEO, Dr. Lance Redding. Redding's oratory is at an Obama level. The CEO displayed a silver tongue capable of motivating hundreds of aerospace engineers. But in the middle of what they thought was Everest, three puzzled and slightly traumatized professionals woke up one morning to find that this inspirational CEO was over the top. Farber, Smythe and Malmon disclosed to HR and the EAP how Redding had stolen team ideas from their "Friday Improvisation Team" and taken credit for their R & D innovations. The three engineers felt as if they had been bamboozled by the likes of a preacher-CEO who was both charismatic and diabolical.

Once in the presence of a Fortune 500 charmer and silver tongued devil you begin to pick up cues as to how a Lance Redding seduces his followers. The testosterone endowed leader is emotionally charged and finely tuned to reach into your feelings and humanity. Logic is peppered and overly seasoned with passion. Embellishments rule. We initially witness his impeccable credentials, slick demeanor, extraordinary intelligence and crazy spirit. But anger, frustration, impatience, narcissism, outrage and condescension also raise their heads. We suspect that this terribly motivational boss is also poisonous. How could Dr. Redding attempt to take credit for his own engineering team's innovations? Might this constitute white collar crime?

Can you bottom line the motives and modus operandi of a suave, debonair and motivational gentleman who operates in a destructive fashion? How long must it take to detect his toxic motives and subtext? Farber, Smythe and Malmon realized that they were dealing with a chameleon. One morning Lance was bright and chipper and by afternoon he was elitist, a ball of fury, trembling in the thighs, foaming from the eyes, and destined to herd and manhandle his subordinates where angels fear to tread. Why do several of the engineers call him a wild child CEO? Is he a primitive who wears a Brooks Brothers suit as a facade? Why did one of the secretaries label him a "gorilla in pin stripes"? Is it in his gorilla repertoire to steal from his posse and take credit for intellectual property as he sees fit? What are the laws of the corporate jungle for this toxic leader?

Who is this visceral, spewing CEO and where do his toxic emotions, vigor and contagious urgency spring from? This leader is outside the boundaries of 9 to 5 logic. He rewrites the rules of management and customer service and practically solicits grievances and discrimination suits from vendors, clients and employees. What organs are at the matrix of Lance Redding's thought, passions and decision making process? The brain? A dark soul? The belly? The heart? The hormones? The kidneys? The liver? The spleen? Did his right brain take a left turn? The workplace took note of Lance Reddings's verbal innuendos, X- rated tirades, infantile inflection, flirtatious facial expression and macho body language. The CEO's male energy was off the charts, over the border line, and outside the Fortune 500 box. A wild child CEO was on the loose.

Joan Farber, Doug Smythe and Adriane Malmon sued their brazen CEO for theft of intellectual property, psychological anguish and abusive behavior. A fleet of externally hired attorneys, 75% of Pluto Engineering's Human Resources Department and the entire Employee Assistance Program became progressively embroiled in this quagmire. It was no longer business as usual. Distractions and dysfunction reigned supreme. There were fewer sunny day at Pluto Engineering. It was always drizzling.

Whatever was the origin of Redding's sometimes frantic, wild testosterone fueled leadership? The CEO had already infiltrated the organizational system and removed any hope for objectivity. Farber, Smythe and Malmon had trusted Redding despite his seemingly strange, polarizing and erratic behavior. Thinking all along that Lance was a bit off balance and a wacko-genius - they assumed that he had limited control over his emotions but was brilliant and worth the shit. Not so.

Lance Redding is extremely raw, deceptively eloquent and what subordinates call "intoxicating." Lance is a hyper-animated and full-fledged toxic leader and celebrity CEO. As I point out in Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations: A Therapeutic Approach, this variety of boss has been lionized in the print and electronic media and is a larger than life figure - Iacocca, Trump and Jobs - all rolled into one. Dr. Redding's IQ was off the charts, he did his MBA at Wharton and the Ph.D. at Harvard. The engineer regularly juggled pedigree, power and acclaim. Occasionally, he locked horns with unsuspecting engineers who initially shrugged of his sometimes preening and demeaning behavior. Redding frequently portrayed himself as but another loner engineer who by default was cast into a leadership role. But this populist ploy was at best, weak.