Destructive Leadership Research Articles

Under the Shadow of Destructive Leadership: Causal Effect of Job stress on Turnover Intention of Employees in Call Centers

The purpose of the study is to analyze the dark side of leadership behaviors leading to cause job stress and their impact on turnover intention of employees as work outcome. Working under the dark shadow of destructive leaders creates stress and anxiety that effect indirectly and consequently lead employees to turnover from their job position or designation. The research study is exploratory in approach. The scales were adapted from that measure to analyze the destructive leadership exhibiting negative behaviors causing job stress, also highlights the evidence in support of the conceptual model. The sample chosen for this research are employees working in telecommunication call centers of Lahore city region in Pakistan that generated 250 respondents by survey data collection. AMOS (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results showed that Abusive supervision and Derailed leadership behaviors contained the positive influence on Turnover intention followed by mediating effect of job stress analyzed by bootstrapping technique contained partial and full mediation in relation with turnover intention respectively. Outcome from the conducted study depicted that more knowledge and awareness about the leadership behaviors and perspective in organizations in relation to its consequences is needed to be dealt with. The study provided evidence along with a proposed model that directed the readers‟ and researchers attention towards the dark side behaviors of leader in a stress building environment such as telecommunication sector. This empirical study provides a preliminary evidence of the mediating role job stress when faced with destructive behaviors of leaders that stresses to have an impact on Turnover Intention of employees.

Running Head: Destructive Leader Behavior in the Norwegian Armed Forces

Recent research indicates that destructive leadership might have a detrimental effect on a wide range of outcomes across the organization. However, few studies have focused on the military context. The present study examined the extent to which destructive leader behavior was related to individual work-related attitudes and feelings among military personnel in the Norwegian Armed forces (N=170). Dependent variables were (1) Burnout, (2) Work Engagement, and (3) Organizational Commitment. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that destructive leader behavior significantly predicted Burnout and Work Engagement. This is the first study that examines, and in parallel confirms the unique influence of destructive leadership on important work environment variables among members of the Norwegian armed forces. Despite the fact that the respondents in this sample most likely have above average psychological robustness, they still appear to be significantly influenced by destructive leader behavior. At the same time, our findings also indicate that respondents are able to maintain their organizational commitment despite destructive leader behavior. This study thus represents a unique step towards establishing knowledge about the interplay between destructive leader behavior and psychosocial related phenomena, forming a potential basis for theoretical and practical developments.

Toxicity in leadership: exploring its dimensions in the Indian context

For decades, scholarly research on leadership have attempted to ascertain the traits, behaviours, styles and outcomes of great and effective leadership, very few have resolutely attempted to understand the nature and consequences of dark side or dysfunctional leadership. This study attempts to address the taxonomy deficits in toxic leadership as applicable in Indian context. The focus of the paper is on identification of factors of toxic leadership based on Destructive Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) and toxic leadership scale (TLS). The identified factors of toxicity in leaders are viewed from subordinate's 'cognitive schema' perspective in Indian organisations. Exploratory Factor analysis on 150 samples yielded eight factors of perceived toxicity of a leader. Co-relation and regression analysis was also done in order to identify their determinants. The results contribute to developing research stream that examines toxic leadership and have both theoretical and practical implications.

Toxicity in leadership: exploring its dimensions in the Indian context

For decades, scholarly research on leadership have attempted to ascertain the traits, behaviours, styles and outcomes of great and effective leadership, very few have resolutely attempted to understand the nature and consequences of dark side or dysfunctional leadership. This study attempts to address the taxonomy deficits in toxic leadership as applicable in Indian context. The focus of the paper is on identification of factors of toxic leadership based on Destructive Leadership Questionnaire (DLQ) and toxic leadership scale (TLS). The identified factors of toxicity in leaders are viewed from subordinate's 'cognitive schema' perspective in Indian organisations. Exploratory Factor analysis on 150 samples yielded eight factors of perceived toxicity of a leader. Co-relation and regression analysis was also done in order to identify their determinants. The results contribute to developing research stream that examines toxic leadership and have both theoretical and practical implications.

Leader-follower dynamics in ethical lapses in tax practice

This study posits that unethical behavior in the corporate arena is often a result of destructive leaders influencing willing followers. Destructive leaders manipulate followers using either their dominant/coercive power or their prestige/charisma. Followers obey the instructions of destructive leaders because they are either conformers (afraid to confront the leader) or colluders (believe in the leader or participate for material gain). Based on an experiment, we show that unethical acts are performed in the presence of dominant leaders. We also find that charismatic leaders influence colluders to engage in unethical acts.

Leadership, followers' mental health and job performance in organizations: A comprehensive meta‐analysis from an occupational health perspective

SummaryThe present meta‐analysis investigates the associations between leadership, followers' mental health, and job performance by taking into account different groups of leadership constructs including transformational leadership, relations‐oriented leadership, task‐oriented leadership, destructive leadership, and leader–member exchange. Six categories of mental health‐related outcomes are considered representing both negative and positive mental health states of followers, namely, affective symptoms, burnout, stress, well‐being, psychological functioning, and health complaints. Meta‐analytic models are used to estimate the association between these categories of leadership and mental health. Our results reveal that transformational leadership, a high quality of relations‐oriented and task‐oriented leadership behavior, as well as a high quality of leader–follower interaction are positively associated with mental health. In contrast, destructive leadership is strongly negatively associated with mental health. In addition, the mediation effects of leadership on job performance via mental health are estimated. Results partially support the mediating role of mental health concerning the relationship between leadership and job performance. Our results emphasize the importance of leadership as an occupational health factor, and they may serve as basis for the planning and designing of occupational health policies and interventions despite existing research limitations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Destructive Leadership: A Critique of Leader-Centric Perspectives and Toward a More Holistic Definition

Over the last 25 years, there has been an increasing fascination with the “dark” side of leadership. The term “destructive leadership” has been used as an overarching expression to describe various “bad” leader behaviors believed to be associated with harmful consequences for followers and organizations. Yet, there is a general consensus and appreciation in the broader leadership literature that leadership represents much more than the behaviors of those in positions of influence. It is a dynamic, cocreational process between leaders, followers, and environments, the product of which contributes to group and organizational outcomes. In this paper, we argue that, despite this more holistic recognition of leadership processes within the broader leadership literature, current conceptualizations and analyses of destructive leadership continue to focus too heavily on behaviors and characteristics of “bad” leaders. In our view, to achieve a more balanced understanding of destructive leadership, it is important to adopt more integrative approaches that are based in the contemporary leadership discourse and that recognize flawed or toxic leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments as interdependent elements of a broader destructive leadership process. To this end, we offer a critique of the destructive leadership literature, propose a broader definition of destructive leadership, and highlight gaps in our understanding of leaders, followers, and environments in contributing to destructive leadership processes. Finally, we conclude by discussing strategies for examining destructive leadership in a broader, more holistic fashion.

Bihar's Education System in Shambles: Building History with the Rubbles of My Fading Memory

The entire education system of Bihar, starting from primary to higher education is plagued by corruption and disregard for quality. Although the Bihari youths have wonderful brains, amazing perseverance, and tenacity to pursue their goals, Bihar is better known for supplying unskilled laborers to the entire nation as well as the land of poverty, ignorance, corruption and political buffoonery. This is because her youths are maimed and nurtured to be differently-abled to make a reserve army of followers serving the interests of destructive leaders. Bihar has fallen into the toxic triangle of destructive leaders, susceptible followers and conducive environment. The socio-political system characterizes a soft state and there are formidable countervailing forces to resist any positive change. Populism and opportunism among the political leaders deny all positive changes. Criminality is all pervasive. One wonders whether this night will ever be followed by a dawn!

Destructive and Transformational Leadership in Africa

The continent of Africa presents a unique context of study for leadership scholars. A vast expanse of land encompassing over 50 countries, territories, and states with over 1.1 billion people, Africa’s diversity of ethnicities, cultures, and languages are both sources of richness and potential conflict. In this article, we explore examples of two leadership extremes within the context of Africa: transformational and destructive leadership. Through foundational work on transformational leadership, as well as relatively newer work on destructive leadership, we explore some of the psychological, situational, and institutional forces that account for the contrasting natures of exemplary transformational and notorious despotic African leaders. Following this contrast, we present countermeasures that can be taken to survive and thrive despite narcissistic leaders, and even the possibility of transforming them before they become truly destructive.

An investigation of destructive leadership in a Division I intercollegiate athletic department: Follower perceptions and reactions

Recent events in intercollegiate athletic department organizational cultures demonstrate the need to examine the experiences of personnel who serve in a toxic leadership culture. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify how three head coaches, one associate athletic director, and a facilities manager perceived and reacted to 6 years of destructive leadership. Each participant was interviewed for 60–90 min. Consistent with Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser’s (2008) toxic triangle theory, findings suggest that perceptions and reactions to the evaluated athletic department were seemingly negative. The leadership and actions of two head coaches, the athletic director, and the university president were perceived as destructive to the department and the institution. The culprits of the destructive consequences were the university’s lack of internal and external checks and balances, a president who centralized control, and an absence of effective athletic department leadership. Follower repercussions identified were avoidance of the athletic director, keeping opinions to oneself, and adherence; followers employed their strategies to avert conflict or job termination.

Laissez-Faire leaders and organizations: how does Laissez-Faire leader erode the trust in organizations

Supervisors are known to play significant role in instilling trust within the organizations. Following this corollary, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of laissez-faire leadership on employees’ trust in their organizations. Known as “absence of leadership”, laissez-faire leadership is one of the ineffective and destructive leadership styles, which is assumed to erode the trust both in supervisors and organizations. Data were collected mostly from engineers (sample size =129) working in a public organization, conducting scientific and technological research on mineral exploration and geology. The finding including both correlation coefficients and results of structural equation modeling revealed that the experience of laissez-faire leadership by an immediate supervisor was strongly associated with reduced level of trust in organizations. More specifically, when a supervisor fails to satisfy to the expectations of subordinates by lack of presence and involvement, those behaviors seem to erode the employees' feelings of trust toward their organizations. This finding could be explained with the premises of psychological contract breach. Employees perceiving their supervisors reluctant or incompetent to satisfy their needs seem to lose their confidence that the organization would abide by the initial promises had been made, which wears away the trust in organization as time passes. Key Words: Trust, organizational trust, leadership, laissez-faire leadership, ineffective leadership. JEL Classification: M10, M12, M54.

Destructive Leadership in Sports: Developing the Sports Coaching Destructive Leadership Scale (Sc-Dls)

This study investigates the validity and reliability of the Destructive Coaching Leadership Scale according to athletes. All athlete participants were asked to fill a personal information form and the Destructive Coaching Leadership Scale developmental version, which consists of 72 items. 360 athletes from several disciplines who have competed for one or more years with their team coaches asked to join to the study, 338 of participants answered the scale and personal information form, 18 of the filled forms were excluded by researchers. The Final research sample consisted of 320 active athletes (214 male and 106 female). According to the principal components factor analysis of five factors, which are I-Planning and Change Management, II-Fear of Failure-Pressure, III- Emotional Ambivalence, IV-Distrust and V-Democratic Behavior were extracted.

Do employees share knowledge when encountering abusive supervision?

Purpose– Despite the prevalence of destructive leadership in today’s workplace, the authors know little about its influence on knowledge sharing among employees. Using the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors examine how abusive supervision influences psychological capital and affects knowledge sharing. Further, the authors take a context variable (group trust) to explore its cross-level influence on the above causal relationship. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– This study conducts multi-level analyses of knowledge sharing. Abusive supervision and psychological capital are the determinants of knowledge sharing at the individual level. Group trust is considered a group-level variable with cross-level influences. The final sample for an empirical test conducted using hierarchical linear modeling includes 449 group members of 55 working groups.Findings– Empirical results show that abusive supervision is negatively related to knowledge sharing. The results also indicate that psychological capital mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge sharing. At the group level, group trust has a direct cross-level impact on employees’ knowledge sharing and mitigates the relationship between abusive supervision and psychological capital.Originality/value– Applying the COR theory, this is the first research to discuss how destructive leadership (i.e. abusive supervision) influences knowledge sharing. Based on the multi-level perspective, the authors also examine how group trust can have a cross-level impact on knowledge sharing and the relationship between abusive supervision and psychological capital.

Different Shades Of Destructive Leadership: Differential Effects Of Destructive Leaders On Followers

The literature on destructive leadership is characterized by different behaviors. The most influential categorization describes destructive leadership along two dimensions: The follower and the organization (Einarsen et. al, 2007). Recently it was proposed to add a third dimension in order to describe destructive leaders behaviors more comprehensively: Leader self-interest (Schmid et al., 2014). In the present study, we investigated these three dimensions more closely and contrasted the self-interested leadership behaviors with follower-directed destructive leadership behaviors and organization-directed destructive leadership behaviors. Specifically, we tested whether these different destructive leader behaviors influence followers differently. The results suggest that self-interested leadership does indeed influence differential outcomes compared to leaders behaving in a follower directed destructive manner or leaders behaving in a manner that harms the organization.

Destructive and Transformational Leadership in Africa

The continent of Africa presents a unique context of study for leadership scholars. A vast expanse of land encompassing over 50 countries, territories, and states with over 1.1 billion people, Africa’s diversity of ethnicities, cultures, and languages are both sources of richness and potential conflict.In this article, the authors explore examples of two leadership extremes within the context of Africa: transformational and destructive leadership. Through foundational work on transformational leadership, as well as relatively newer work on destructive leadership, the authors explore some of the psychological, situational, and institutional forces that account for the contrasting natures of exemplary transformational and notorious despotic African leaders.Following this contrast, the authors present countermeasures that can be taken to survive and thrive despite narcissistic leaders, and even the possibility of transforming them before they become truly destructive.

"Destructive Leadership, Burnout and Affective Commitment among Nurses"

This study examined impact of destructive leadership (supervisor hostility) on nurses’ affective organizational commitment through the mediating role of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonal...

"Narcissism, abusive supervision climate, and team effectiveness: Testing a mediation model"

Abusive supervision reflects a critical form of destructive leadership. Compared with the large amount of research on the consequences of abusive supervision, less attention has been paid to examin...

Organizational Conspiracy Beliefs: Implications for Leadership Styles and Employee Outcomes.

PurposeBelief in conspiracy theories about societal events is widespread among citizens. The extent to which conspiracy beliefs about managers and supervisors matter in the micro-level setting of organizations has not yet been examined, however. We investigated if leadership styles predict conspiracy beliefs among employees in the context of organizations. Furthermore, we examined if such organizational conspiracy beliefs have implications for organizational commitment and turnover intentions.Design/Methodology/ApproachWe conducted a survey among a random sample of the US working population (N = 193).FindingsDespotic, laissez-faire, and participative leadership styles predicted organizational conspiracy beliefs, and the relations of despotic and laissez-faire leadership with conspiracy beliefs were mediated by feelings of job insecurity. Furthermore, organizational conspiracy beliefs predicted, via decreased organizational commitment, increased turnover intentions.ImplicationsOrganizational conspiracy beliefs matter for how employees perceive their leaders, how they feel about their organization, and whether or not they plan to quit their jobs. A practical implication, therefore, is that it would be a mistake for managers to dismiss organizational conspiracy beliefs as innocent rumors that are harmless to the organization.Originality/ValueThree novel conclusions emerge from this study. First, organizational conspiracy beliefs occur frequently among employees. Second, participative leadership predicts decreased organizational conspiracy beliefs; despotic and laissez-faire leadership predict increased organizational conspiracy beliefs due to the contribution of these destructive leadership styles to an insecure work environment. Third, organizational conspiracy beliefs harm organizations by influencing employee commitment and, indirectly, turnover intentions.

The dark side of teaching: destructive instructor leadership and its association with students’ affect, behaviour, and cognition

Leadership theory can provide a route for investigating teaching via the concept of instructor leadership. Instructor leadership is defined as a process whereby instructors exert intentional influence over students to guide, structure and facilitate classroom activities and relationships in a class. Instructor leadership in higher education research has focused primarily on constructive leadership. However, the classroom context is also conducive to destructive leadership. The objectives of this study are to (a) conceptualize destructive instructor leadership and (b) investigate the association between destructive instructor leadership and student reactions. Using 13 in-depth semistructured student interviews at management schools across various universities worldwide, the results of a thematic analysis indicate that destructive instructor leadership can be conceptualized as three dimensions, including callous communication, chaotic carelessness and irresponsibility. The interview data are then used to demonstrate that destructive instructor leadership is associated with students’ affective, behavioural and cognitive reactions. Theoretically, this study (a) contributes the concept of destructive instructor leadership, (b) extends previous organizational behaviour research on destructive leadership by offering a multidimensional concept and (c) examines the reactions of two manifestations of destructive leadership. Limitations, suggestions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

The Discursive Dance: The Employee Co-operation Negotiations as an Arena for Management-by-fear

The purpose of this article is to qualitatively describe and critically explain the discursive construction of employee co-operation negotiations in Finland as an arena for management-by-fear. The article consists of a theoretical review, covering the legislative basis of co-operation negotiations and recent research on management-by-fear. The empirical study consists of media texts and company media releases in Finland in 2012–2013. The main conclusions are that there are distinctive features in the co-operation negotiations that enable and enforce the possibility of management-by-fear, and thus destructive leadership. The process, supported by law and very much against the original aim, enhances authoritative leadership, objectification of employees, distortion of information and misleading, and the negative consequences thereof. The process is an employer-invited discursive dance where the employee has to follow through the set steps and in the set rhythm, with the media orchestrating the tune and managing the fear. The study adds a valuable element to the research areas of downsizing, bad management, and the discursive construction of these phenomena.