The Psychology of Bad (and Good) Leadership

A century of research on the psychology of leadership has discovered the behaviors that can differentiate good and bad leaders. Let’s start with the tell-tale signs of bad leadership, show how a leader can use these behaviors inappropriately, and then discuss how good leaders should behave.

1. Demand Unquestioning Obedience to Authority. Leaders who demand absolute obedience and loyalty are a warning sign of bad leadership. Psychologist Stanley Milgram, in his famous obedience studies (his “shock” experiments), clearly demonstrated that unquestioning loyalty can lead to followers simply adhering to the leader’s orders, even if it involves harming an innocent person. A leader who demands unquestioning loyalty is not only a bad leader but one who can “go off the rails” and make serious mistakes and likely will be ineffective in the long run.

A good leader consults with subordinates and says: “Tell me if I’m doing something wrong.”

2. Fear Appeals and Offering Protection from Harm. The easiest way for a leader to gain unquestioning, blind allegiance from followers is to create a sense of fear and to offer followers the leader’s protection in exchange for fealty (“Only I can save you!”). All too often, the bad leader uses scapegoats to incite fear, as Hitler did with the Jews. Religious cult leaders who promise salvation if followers will only obey the leader’s every command are good examples of using fear to incite blind obedience.

A good leader protects followers from harm but without a quid pro quo of unquestioning loyalty. A good leader acknowledges threats and dangers but assures followers that together they can deal with them (think President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s reassuring “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”).

3. Divisiveness. Bad leaders pit loyal followers against those who disagree with or don’t support the leader. They do so by using the well-researched “in-group, out-group bias” (also known as the we-they effect). “We are the good guys, they are the bad guys.” The bad leader creates “enemies,” even when those supposed enemies are part of the larger population. In creating this we-they effect, the bad leader magnifies differences and ignores similarities. Why is this bad leadership? While it may offer a short-term advantage, it becomes difficult when the two sides must work together. This is the current problem in U.S. politics. Importantly, demonizing the out-group tends to bring out the worst in human nature and we see that played out daily in politics.

A good leader focuses on commonalities, trying to achieve goals that are relevant to both sides of the divide. A good leader works toward win-win solutions that are good for both the leader’s supporters and those who don’t support the leader but are being led by him or her.

4. Divinity. In extreme cases, leaders either associate themselves with the ultimate authority—God—or they themselves claim to be divine. Leaders from ancient Egypt, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and cult leaders (Guyana’s Reverend Jim Jones), tell followers they are the divine authority. In less extreme circumstances, a leader may claim that “God is on my side!” Hitler, for example, said that the actions of the Nazis were “by the will of the almighty Creator.”

Good leaders would never make such claims, they have humility and realize their shortcomings. The highest-rated U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, said, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.”

Good leaders...

• Do the right things rather than simply get things done.
• Are responsible leaders who act ethically and don’t break rules, lie, cheat, or steal to get ahead.
• Limit “collateral damage.” In achieving goals they don’t exhaust, damage, or demoralize followers. They don’t devastate the environment or waste precious resources.
• Develop Followers. They build the talents of their workforce or supporters and help them engage in the joint effort that is what leadership is all about (leaders and followers together co-creating good leadership).
• Leave the team, the organization, or the nation better off than they found it.