Five Reasons Why People Follow Bad Leaders?
Followers play a big role in why bad leaders can flourish.
Why are there so many bad leaders? Here are five of the main reasons that people choose and follow bad leaders:
1. We Value the Wrong Leader Qualities. We value strong, confident leaders, but often confuse arrogance and narcissism for strength. Research shows that the worst leaders are very narcissistic and arrogant, but as we have seen, many narcissists are able to gain leadership positions.
2. We Equate Effectiveness with Being a Good Leader. We place great value on results, but often neglect to consider how those results were obtained (i.e., “the ends justify the means”).
3. We Crave Power. Leadership expert, Jean Lipman-Blumen, in her book on Toxic Leadership, suggests that followers enable and assist bad leaders — allowing them to get into positions of power, and supporting their misdeeds. All too often, followers look to and support the leaders who will give them what they want, rather than what the country or organization needs. Bad followers (“henchmen”) are drawn to bad leaders because of the promise of sharing the power.
4. We Don’t Hold Leaders Accountable. We often blindly place leaders on a pedestal and assume that they will do the right thing. We need to be active followers and hold leaders accountable. Followers need to stand up to leaders when they are on the wrong path, and support them when they are doing the right thing.
5. We Rationalize. All too often we give leaders “a pass” instead of holding them accountable. Or, we allow leaders to be above the rules (“the leader can do it BECAUSE he/she is the leader”). Finally, we “settle” too easily. Instead of seeking out the very best leader, we “make due” with the poor leader candidates that we have.
For Development: Followers can be used as a “check” on when a leader is doing the wrong thing or on the wrong path — but only if we foster an environment where followers feel that they are empowered to stand up to leaders in such cases. Are you using followers in this way? Do you allow them the power to speak up?
