Description
Leadership from Bad to Worse is about how leadership that is bad, invariably, inexorably, gets worse--unless it is somehow, by someone or something, stopped or slowed. The process of going from bad to worse tends to be steady, as opposed to hasty. But once bad burrows in, it digs in. It digs in deeper and then deeper, making it difficult finally to extract or excise without getting rid of whoever and whatever is involved. This work draws on four cases of bad leadership--two in political leadership, two in business leadership--to show how it goes from bad to worse. Kellerman finds that bad leadership and bad followership go through four phases of development: 1) Onward and Upward; 2) Followers Join In; 3) Leaders Start In; and 4) Bad to Worse.These findings correctly suggest that the book, in addition to being of theoretical interest, is of practical import. It is intended, deliberately, to serve as an early warning system. By breaking bad leadership and followership into phases--each more ominous and ultimately dangerous than the one preceding--their progression will be easier to predict and detect. And easier, therefore, to slow or, preferably, to stop before they turn toxic. Bad leadership is a social disease. But unlike diseases that are physical or psychological, it remains at the margins of our collective concerns. Leadership from Bad to Worse is, then, a corrective. Knowing that bad leadership can be checked before it corrupts is knowing that bad and then worse can be, if not completely precluded, then sometimes short-circuited.
Table of Contents
Prologue - The PresentPart I - Looking InChapter 1: Democracy in Decline and Capitalism in QuestionChapter 2: Followership and Leadership in the 21st CenturyChapter 3: Making Meaning of Being BadChapter 4: The Stages of DevelopmentPart II - Digging InChapter 5: Martin Winterkorn - CEO of VolkswagenChapter 6: Recep Tayyip Erdogan - President of TurkeyChapter 7: Elizabeth Holmes - CEO of TheranosChapter 8: Xi Jinping - President of ChinaPart III - Closing InChapter 9: Phase I - Onward and UpwardChapter 10: Phase II - Followers Join In Chapter 11: Phase III - Leaders Start InChapter 12: Phase IV - From Bad to WorseEpilogue - The Future
