The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians–and How We Ca
By Jean Lipman-Blumen
Rating: 8
November 11, 2006
The premise of this book is compelling: why are toxic leaders in great supply? The answer is often more startling: because we need them.
Lipman-Blumen aims her magnifying glass at an unusual object for a leadership book. She aims her gaze at the followers, and unpacks the psychological and social dynamics of followers that may keep toxic leaders in place. It’s unsettling that the followers’ need to be calmed from their fears and to be safe from their dangers make them vulnerable to the manipulatino of toxic leaders. It’s quite insightful.
She also sheds a harsh light on what she calls the “no-touch tango,” where the media, governance boards and toxic leaders engage in a dance to placate each other to the benefits of all — often resulting in toxic situations and disastrous results.
The book sometimes becomes repetitive, and the payoff doesn’t really start until after 100 or so pages in, but the author delivers and gives the reader some helpful solutions and tools to detoxify leadership.
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