Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations: A Therapeutic Approach

Organizational behavior and leadership research has traditionally been deeply influenced by positive psychology and appreciative inquiry. Yet, in recent times, a wave of corporate scandals and spectacular organizational failures has forced management and organizational theorists to rethink this approach. Unethical CEO behavior, white collar crime, property deviance, employee grievances and lawsuits, organizational terrorism, and workplace violence have all provided the impetus for an examination of the darker side of leadership. In Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations, Alan Goldman draws on his extensive experience as a management consultant and executive coach to provide a fascinating behind-closed-doors account of troubled leaders and the effect they have on their organizations. Featuring clinical case studies, ranging from the fashion industry to an aeronautical engineering corporation, the book explores the damaging effects of destructive leadership on organizations and provides the tools necessary for early recognition, assessment, and treatment.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: leaders and organizations in search of treatment; 1. Hubris and narcissism: the dark underbelly of leadership; 2. The enigma of an unintentionally toxic leader: an emotionally turbulent and impulsive workplace; 3. The narcissistic leader: world renowned and quite arrogant; 4. Leader sabotage: the fish rots from the head down; 5. The obsessive compulsive leader: a manager's mandate for perfection or destruction; 6. The borderline leader: when brilliance and psychopathology coexist in a leader; 7. Trouble at the top: high toxicity implications of a leader with anti-social personality disorder; 8. Histrionic leadership: the allure of the toxic leader in a volatile industry; 9. The outer limits of toxic behaviour: corporate trauma in the form of disturbed leadership; 10. Destructive leaders; References; Index.

About the Author :
Alan Goldman is Professor of Management at Arizona State University. He has many years' experience as a management consultant and executive coach to a range of corporations in the USA and Japan.

Review :
'Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations is unique in its approach, with examples of leadership we can all relate to. It is enlightening to understand abusive and uncivil leader behavior from a psychological perspective. This is a must-read for employees and managers alike. Thank you Dr Goldman for your multi-disciplinary insights.' Leanne Atwater, University of Houston 'Unlike many accounts of organizational dysfunction in the OD literature, Alan Goldman is direct and unapologetic when it comes to identifying and acknowledging psychopathology in contemporary organizations. His book promotes a clinical model and dialogue about human behavior in organizations that some scholars in the field would prefer not to have. If, as I have come to observe, addressing psychopathology in the workplace is about listening deeply and containing individual pain and anxiety, then Goldman's book is required reading in the field.' Michael A. Diamond, University of Missouri 'Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations is the first book to detail critical psychological issues in leadership and their organizational impacts in an accessible manner with diagnostic insights and practical solutions. A must-read for serious scholar-practitioners of the management sciences and anyone who works with changing organizational behavior.' David W. Jamieson, President of the Jamieson Consulting Group, Inc. and Practicum Director of the American University/NTL MSOD Program, Washington, DC 'Anyone who has to deal with toxic leaders will find this book enlightening as it shows the way to diagnosing their underlying psychopathology. You will also enjoy Alan Goldman's skilful handling of some very tough customers.' Michael Maccoby, author of The Leaders We Need and What Makes Us Follow and Narcissistic Leaders: Who Succeeds and Who Fails 'It's out of the closet! In their times, revelations about spousal abuse and then about clerical abuse shocked people - but they also led to remedial action. Goldman's cases illustrate leadership abuses and the disturbing consequences when senior, powerful people suffer from mental aberrations. Every senior manager needs to understand the issues raised in this book in order to see how destructive leaders cause their associates and their businesses to suffer. Goldman's book can contribute to widespread recognition and solutions to the dark side of corporate life - so that executives can be on their toes and ready to act.' Robert H. Schaffer, consultant and author of Rapid Results! How 100-Day Projects Build the Capacity for Large-Scale Change 'In response to corporate and leadership crises, Goldman's consulting and coaching narratives deliver deep insights into the pathological mechanisms of dysfunctional organizations and their leaders. His analysis of denial and resistance, greed and hubris, anger and narcissism is stimulating and thought-provoking. CEOs, scholars and students of leadership and organizational behavior will find powerful material in Goldman's unveiling of toxic leadership in areas as different as education, government, medicine, fashion, engineering and construction. Destructive Leaders and Dysfunctional Organizations is a very timely, helpful, action-oriented book and an extraordinary 'must-read' for corporate and business leaders, politicians, media leaders, management consultants and coaches alike.' Ginka Toegel, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland 'Evidence of errant and dysfunctional behaviour by senior executives - and the misuse of their position and power - has increased in recent years and has justifiably become a matter of profound public concern. In this interesting book, Alan Goldman examines cases from his consulting work with top executives of counterproductive workplace behavior and illuminates some of the underlying psychological factors which have resulted in the pathological scenarios described.' Michael Walton, University of Exeter