Leadership and Management

Theories and Practices

BS4S19 Tutorial 8
Aims for this Tutorial/Workshop

• Critically Discuss Management and Leadership

the Toxic and Dark Side
Management & Leadership
the
Toxic and Dark Side
 Toxic Bosses Definition

“toxic bosses are emotional bullies who treat

employees coldly, even cruelly. They assign blame and
take the credit for themselves.”
Bruce Heller
Micromanager
 Micromanager Warning Signs
• Autocratic and Bureaucratic traits
• Limited trust on individuals or team
• Reluctance to delegate
• Detail, process and procedure focused
• Enjoys correcting other people’s work
• Inconsistent
• Low morale, absenteeism
• Unsupportive of creativity and innovation
Autocratic
 Positive Uses of Micromanagement
• Passionate about Excellence
• Getting the Best out of People
• Aware of Who has What Skills within the Team
• Passionate about Detail and Precision
• Onboarding of New Team Members
• Monitoring Activities
• Quality Assurance
• Regular Engagement with Individuals & Team
 Ways to Manage a Micromanager

• Take pre-emptive action and schedule weekly updates

• Find out about their aspirations and values
• Align communication for a WIN/WIN outcome
• Provide Reassurance and Build Trust
• Be positive and specific about accountability
• Provide feedback on impact of micromanagement and
negotiate alternatives of providing updates
 Pushover Manager
• People Pleaser
• Lacks Assertiveness – Yes Person
• Lacks Confidence
• Avoids Confrontation
• Open to Manipulation
• Risks Burnout
• Compromises own Development
 Ways to Overcome being a Pushover Manager
• Become more Assertive
• Become Consistent and Congruent
• Practice saying No and have Alternative Solutions
• Remember you say No to the action not the
individual
• Set yourself personal goals and monitor them
• Build relationships based on mutual respect
• Reflect on your practice
• Get a Mentor/Coach or both
 Critically Discuss

• Micromanagers
Impact on Motivation and Productivity

• Pushover Manager
Impact on Motivation and Productivity
 Emotional Intelligence Bright side

Goleman (1996) claimed that

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognize,
understand, manage own emotions and to
influence the emotions of others

Positively Associated
with
Transformational Leadership
 Emotional Intelligence the Dark side

Nagler et al. (2014) researched the connection

between a high level of socio-emotional intelligence
(SEI) and the Dark Triad (Narcissism,
Machiavellianism and psychopathy)
and found that strongly predicted
the potential for
emotional manipulation
Emotional Intelligence the Dark side
The Dark Triad
 Hubristic Leadership – Rolls (1986)
Hubristic Leaders
• Overestimate own abilities and the probabilities of
being successful
• Over-precision in own beliefs
• Over-placement of own performance relative to that
of others
• Draw on estimations rooted in past success

Picone et al. (2014)

 Deviant Leadership

“Deviant leadership is systematic and

repeated behaviours that violate legitimate
interests of an organization by undermining
its goals, tasks, resources, effectiveness,
motivation, well-being, or job satisfaction
of subordinates”
(Aasland et al., 2007)
 Narcissistic Leadership
“Dark-side” personality traits :

• Argumentative
• Interpersonal insensitivity
• Self-centered
• Fear of Failure
• Perfectionism
• Impulsivity
Northouse (2016)
 Positive Side of Narcissistic Leaders

• Big Aspirations
• Set Big Goals
• Innovators – Rule Breakers
• At Ease with Risk
• Strong Influencers
• Great Persuaders – Disrupters
Maccoby (2014)
 Overview of Toxic Leaders

• Micromanage
• Intimidate others
• Focus heavily on detail
• Self-importance
• Power focused
• Authority focused
• Jump to hasty conclusions
• React negatively to criticism
• Threatened by others’ contributions
 Critically Discuss

• Dark Triad Leaderships

Impact on Leadership and Management Practices

• Toxic Leaders
Impact on Productivity

• Too much Emotional Intelligence

Impact on Employees
 Impact of Bad Leadership
• BP
https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffloftus/2016/09/21/the-deepwater-horizon-
disaster-bps-lethal-leadership-lessons/?sh=7a45458e569e

• NOKIA
https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/the-strategic-decisions-that-caused-nokias-
failure-7766?trk=organization-update-content_share-video-embed_share-article_title

• Lehman Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ahwOIt3xI 06:29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sm-XGVca3c 13:40

• OXFAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT2QNUK7TeA 08:20
 Impact of Bad Leadership
• Tesco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzA9gzbiRaM 05:24
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/22/tesco-loses-2bn-value-
250m-profit-overstatement-investigation

• VW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5TvFY7xRDM 03:47
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/DieselgateHowHubrisandBadLeade
rshipCausedtheBiggestScandalinAutomotiveHistory.pdf
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254178

• LEGO
https://tweakyourbiz.com/finance/rise-and-fall-of-lego
 References
https://www.fastcompany.com/40573471/3-simple-steps-that-stop-you-
from-being-a-pushover

Maccoby, M. (2014, August 01) Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredible Pros,

the Inevitable Cons. https://hbr.org/2004/01/narcissistic-leaders-the-
incredible-pros-the-inevitable-cons

Northouse, P. G. (2016) Leadership: Theory and practice. Los Angeles,

Calif.: SAGE

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice (8th ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications

Van Buren, M. E and Safferstone, T. (2009) “The Quick Wins Paradox,” Harvard
Business Review - http://hbr.org/2009/01/the-quick-wins-paradox/ar/1 (accessed
09/11/19)