Consequences of Destructive Leadership

This text explores the negative consequences of abusive supervision and exploitative leadership. As you read, focus on the theoretical and practical implications.

Theoretical Background

Follower-Directed Behaviors High in Hostility

Constructs describing follower-directed destructive leader behaviors usually stem from the bullying literature and refer to genuinely abusive forms of leadership, high in hostility. The most widely researched construct appears to be abusive supervision. Abusive supervision refers to "subordinates' perceptions of the extent to which their supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact". Other variants of this notion are, for instance, petty tyranny, social undermining, strategic bullying, or despotic leadership While none of these constructs conceptualizes follower-directed destructive leadership in exactly the same way, they all have in common that they describe leaders who behave in a hostile and aggressive (yet nonphysical) manner toward followers. This includes repeatedly intimidating and belittling followers. However, the most established assessment of these constructs is abusive supervision.