Perspective Chapter: We expect Effective Leadership from Leaders, but is this the Case in Reality? Reframing a Much-Hyped Phenomenon by Investigating the Antithesis

Abstract

Leaders too often cause problems that challenge the effectivity of society and organisations; they exhibit bad leadership. This is an under-communicated and under-researched challenge, which is therefore investigated in the antithesis: What if leaders do not execute the effective leadership we expect of them, but quite the opposite, create problems and in-effectivity in the organisations they should serve? This is a more common challenge than many assume. Leadership is an inflated phenomenon that has somewhat distanced itself from organisational realities. There is, therefore, every reason to downscale the expectations of what can be achieved by leaders. This contribution is a nuanced analysis of leaders and their exercise of leadership. A powerful leadership industry has its own interests in promoting only the positive effects of leadership, with little interest in addressing human fallibility within the field. Other perspectives and research methods are therefore needed to avoid losing credibility and legitimacy as a research field and a resource base for professional practice. Given the human and financial toll that fallible leaders take, the advice for organisations and institutions is to develop better policies, systems, and processes that weed out negative and destructive behaviour.