Running head: DARK LEADERSHIP THEORY 1

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Dark Leadership Theory

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Alper T. Gokten

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MGT440: The Dark Side of Leadership
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Dr. Jan Tucker

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January 23th, 2020

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 DARK LEADERSHIP THEORY
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Dark Leadership Theory

One thing that is always consistent when it comes to any theory that has major scientific

backing is that it changes over time, this can also be said for most the leadership theories that

have been around. One of the greatest items that have an effect on any leadership theories is that

they are all effected by the work center norms and the economic facts of the time. We as a

society cannot accept most of the leadership styles of the of middle ages today since they do not

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affectively fit the work center norms or the economic facts of our time. One therie that has stayed

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consistent is the theory of dark leadership or better known as types of leaders that we as a society

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do not want to work for. In this paper we will take a closer look at the dark leadership theory and
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the negative shadow they cast along with steps that can be taken to mitigate those types of

situation.
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The first thing that we need to understand is what makes a dark leader. According to

Johnson (2018), there are 7 types of character flaws that any dark leader can have; incompetent,
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rigid, intemperate, callous, corrupt, insular and evil. “"Incompetent. These leaders don’t have the
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motivation or the ability to sustain effective action…Rigid. Rigid leaders may be competent, but
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they are unyielding, unable to accept new ideas, new information, or changing conditions…
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Rigid. Rigid leaders may be competent, but they are unyielding, unable to accept new ideas, new

information, or changing conditions… Rigid. Rigid leaders may be competent, but they are
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unyielding, unable to accept new ideas, new information, or changing conditions… Rigid. Rigid

leaders may be competent, but they are unyielding, unable to accept new ideas, new information,

or changing conditions. Insular. The insular leader draws a clear boundary between the welfare

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 DARK LEADERSHIP THEORY
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of his or her immediate group or organization and outsiders… Evil leaders commit atrocities

using their powers to inflict severe physical or psychological harm.” Any dark leader does not

need to have all of these traits, they can have one or any combination of these traits. Also on the

same not just because an individual has some of these traits does not make them a dark leader.

An example Johnson (2018), used former President Bill Clinton’s actions in Rwanda to describe

the insular characterization. Over all he was not a dark leader just made a huge mistake at the

time and did not intervene. One example I can currently give for myself I needed to create a

schedule for all our workers so mission essential tasks got accomplished during the current

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lockdowns due to the Covid-19 virus. The moral dilemma I faced is that we have single parents

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that are a part of the team, do I put them on schedule or not. Ultimately I decided to put them on

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the schedule for half days and have them watch each other’s kids. To some this might seem as a
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dark leader but I cannot treat them different than my other workers. One great quote that I

picked up during a past class is “A great leader posses a clear vision, is courageous, has integrity,
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honesty, humility and clear focus. He or she is a strategic planner and believes in teamwork.
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Great leaders help people reach their goals, are not afraid to hire people that might be better than
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them and take pride in the accomplishments of those they help along the way.- Bhagi Rath,
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Mattress Inquirer” (10 Unique Perspectives On What Makes A Great Leader by Brent Gleeson).

This is something that I always try to live by not be become a leader that others don’t want to
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work with or for.

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The next thing we need to look at is what are some of the things that makes leaders post a

shadow instead of a light. According to Johnson (2018) some of the biggest reasons an leader

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casts a shadow instead of light are “"...unhealthy motivations, personality disorders, faulty

thinking caused by mistaken assumptions, failure of moral imagination, moral disengagement,

lack of ethical expertise, and contextual (group, organizational, societal) pressures that encourage

people to set their personal standards aside." In my opinion the biggest reason that a leader

would cast a shadow instead of light is that they have a faulty decision making process.

"Decision-making experts David Messick and Max Bazerman speculate that many unethical

business decisions aren’t the products of greed or callousness but stem instead from widespread

weaknesses in how people process information and make decisions" (Johnson 2018) What this

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basically comes down to is that the leaders that are making these decisions are not taking into

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account all of the facts and after effects of their decisions. One great example of this is the

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relative slow response to this current Covid-19 virus crisis by the world governments. When this
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virus became known later 2019, each government had to time prepare but just sat by and did

nothing. In March of 2020, all around the world we are running into shortages of basic
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necessities to properly fight this virus such as proper masks and hand sanitizer. What is even
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worse is that most leaders aren’t even taken responsibility for their part, basically they lack
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integrity. “Integrity requires that you always tell the truth, to all people, in every situation.
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Truthfulness is the foundation quality of the trust that is necessary for the success of any

business” (The Top 7 Leadership Qualities & Attributes of Great Leaders).

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In conclusion there are many ways for an individual to become a dark leader and cast a

shadow instead of light in their work centers. As mentioned earlier the biggest way to cast a
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shadow is to have a bad process for making decisions and not having the integratory to admit

your mistakes.

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 DARK LEADERSHIP THEORY
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References:

10 Unique Perspectives On What Makes A Great Leader by Brent Gleeson. Retrieved from:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2016/11/09/10-unique-perspectives-on-what-makes-

a-great-leader/#4d3f88705dd1

Johnson, C. E. (2018). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or

shadow (6th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.redshelf.com

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The Top 7 Leadership Qualities & Attributes of Great Leaders. Retrieved from

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https://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/the-seven-leadership-qualities-of-great-

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leaders-strategic-planning/

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