“Leadership” has a positive meaning for most people, but there are also negative aspects to leaders. Recognizing the reality of bad and destructive leadership is essential to promoting good and ethical leadership. Metaphorically, leaders are divided into “light” and “shadow”. “There is a dramatic difference between the lights and shadows of leadership. When leaders cast “light,” they master the ethical challenges of leadership. However, when they cast “shadows,” they abuse power, accumulate privilege, mismanage information, act inconsistently, lose or betray loyalties, and fail to take responsibility. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are many forms of bad leadership. Johnson (2018) cites Harvard professor Barbara Kellerman when she identifies seven types of bad leaders. First, there are incompetent leaders who lack emotional or academic intelligence, are distracted and sloppy, and fail to function under stress. Second, there are rigid leaders, who may be competent but unable to accept new ideas and adapt to changing conditions. Third, there are intemperate leaders who “lack self-control and are encouraged by followers who are unwilling or unable to intervene. Fourth, there are insensitive leaders who are indifferent, rude, ignore or downplay the needs, wants and desires of their followers. Fifth, there are corrupt leaders who lie, cheat and steal for personal gain and do not act in the public interest. Sixth, there are insular leaders who draw clear boundaries between the well-being of their immediate organization and the interest of outsiders. And finally, there are evil leaders who use their influence to inflict physical and psychological harm on people. All of these types of leaders can extend the damage beyond the lifetimes of their followers. Johnson (2018) identifies six “shadows” of leaders, including power, privilege, mismanaged information, inconsistency, misplaced and broken loyalties, and irresponsibility. The Shadows of the Leader are explained as follows: The Shadow of Power: The greater the power of the leader, the greater the potential for abuse of that power. Understanding the power behind leadership is important to understand how power can be used to cast light or shadow. One typology divides power into two categories: hard and soft. Hard power uses incentives, such as bonuses and raises, as well as threats, such as arrests and firings, to convince people to join. Soft power is based on attracting others rather than forcing them to conform and is usually used by those who have no formal authority. Effective leaders combine both hard power and soft power into intelligent power to achieve goals. The abuse of power can occur through the following behaviors: deception, coercion, coercion, selfishness, unfairness, cruelty, contempt and deification. The Shadow of Privilege: Privilege is an ethical burden related to leadership. Leaders usually have more privileges than followers in terms of salary, influence, status, or rewards. Johnson (2018) states that “leaders must give questions of privilege the same careful consideration as questions of power. The shadows of abuse of privilege can be just as dark as those cast by abuse of power. The shadow of poorly managed information: Leaders are more likely to have access to information than followers for a variety of reasons. Leaders cast shadows when they lie about information they have, “hide the truth, fail to disclose conflicts of interest, hide information followers need, useinformation solely for personal gain, violates followers' rights, releases information to the wrong people, and puts followers on ethical binges by preventing them from releasing information that others have a legitimate right to know." How leaders handle the information they have can delineate the difference between casting shadow or light. The Shadow of Inconsistency: Problems with inconsistencies can arise with those outside the leader's immediate group or organization, paralleling the experience of those within the immediate group. This is because a leader develops closer relationships with those in his or her ingroup other than those outside the group. The report could define whether lights or shadows are cast in this regard. The shadow of misplaced and broken loyalties: Leaders consider loyalties and obligations when making choices by considering wide-ranging loyalties and obligations, from shareholders and employees to society and the environment. . Casting shadows would be when a leader makes choices that benefit his self-interest rather than what he should be loyal to. Followers may see this as betrayal and worthy of condemnation. The Shadow of Irresponsibility: Unlike followers, leaders are held accountable for the performance of groups of people. “Leaders act irresponsibly when they fail to make reasonable efforts to prevent wrongdoing by their followers, ignore or deny ethical issues, fail to take responsibility for the consequences of their directives, or deny their duties to followers.” the weaknesses of the human being. Human factors that can influence ethical behavior include factors such as insecurity and fear. Internal enemies or “monsters” can influence ethical leadership. These include insecurity, battlefield mentality, functional atheism, fear, death denial, and evil. Self-centeredness/narcissism can also lead to destructive leadership. Personality disorders such as narcissism can have positive or negative consequences for leaders depending on the levels of this trait. Moderate narcissism can be positive in the short term. However, extreme narcissistic leaders can put others at risk when their goals are unrealistic and cannot be implemented. Poor decision making can be caused by well-intentioned leaders who have made poor choices not based on greed or insensitivity, but by widespread weaknesses in the way people make decisions and the way they think the world works, regarding to others and to themselves. Johnson (2018) states that “the failure of moral imagination consists of three interrelated components: sensitivity to the ethical dimensions of the situation perspective-taking (considering the points of view of others) creating new solutions. Meanwhile, moral disengagement occurs when individuals have a clear sense of right and wrong and yet engage in immoral activities. This can be justified by leaders through moral justification, euphemistic labeling, shifting of responsibility, distortion of consequences, dehumanization of others, and attribution of blame. Finally, lack of ethical skills and contextual pressures can also be accused of casting shadows on leaders. Lack of ethical competence can be blamed if leaders unintentionally make poor choices, while contextual pressures can be blamed if groups make decisions by not interacting with others and insulating themselves from disagreement. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay.