CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS IN THE ORGANISATION THAT ARE VIEWED AS NEGATIVE
Yes, several negative characteristics of leaders, as researched in various empirical studies, are evident in the organization as perceived by followers. The study or survey of the corporate level, business level as well as the operational level followers of the organisation revealed a common hate for the same types of leadership. These negative, destructive or toxic leadership characteristics that were reported by followers in all three levels of the surveyed organisation are as discussed below,
Einarsen (2007) defines destructive leadership as a systematic and repeated set of behaviours by a leader that have significant negative impact in the organization or employee outcome as perceived by subordinates. This represents the dark side of leadership as researched by Hogan & Hogan (2001). The taxonomy of destructive leadership represents toxic leadership (Lipman-Blumen, 2006), abusive supervision (Tepper, et al; 2009), bad leadership (Erickson, et al; 2007) (Kellerman, 2004).
In their qualitative study, (Erickson, et al; 2007) explained and characterised traits of a bad leader as autocratic behaviour, poor communication, inability to use technology, inability to effectively deal with subordinates, poor ethics/ integrity, inconsistent behaviour, poor interpersonal behaviour, micromanagement, excessive political behaviour and lack of strategic skills. These categorized negative traits are supported by