Leadership: Leaders, Followers, Environments

Personalized use of power

Ethics and morality provide another basis for distinguishing between constructive and destructive leaders. Ethical leaders use position power to serve others whereas unethical ones use power for personal gain and self-promotion; unethical leaders use control and coercion to impose their goals while censuring opposing views.⁴⁵ Control can be overt, as when neighborhood watch groups spy on fellow citizens (e.g., East Germany, North Korea, Syria) or it can be a subtle appeal to follower needs for authority, security, belongingness in a safe community, or fear of isolation, imprisonment, or death. Destructive leaders strive constantly to devalue and isolate dissidents and rivals while promoting support for their toxic plans.

LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

On narcissism

The ancient Greek story of Narcissus, the hunter from Thespia known for his good looks, is traced back 2,000 years to Ovid's Metamorphoses. Narcissus was beautiful as a child and became even more handsome as he grew older. By the time he was a teenager, the vain and interpersonally challenged Narcissus had left a trail of broken hearts and rejected lovers of both sexes.

As an act of revenge for unrequited love, a rejected goddess finally made Narcissus fall in love, but with himself. As he bent down to drink from a pond, he saw his striking reflection for the first time. He fell ardently in love with ...