How can you take your leadership from bad to better? What are the best ways to elevate your leadership?
Dr. Barbara Kellerman, Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, is a prominent scholar of bad leadership (including both poor performance and unethical behavior). In her book, Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters, she categorized bad leadership into seven primary types: incompetent, rigid, intemperate, callous, corrupt, insular, and evil. And in her latest book, Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers, Kellerman examines how and why bad leadership intensifies over time.
Elevating Leadership
Here are some of Dr. Kellerman’s top tips for elevating leadership from bad to better, what she calls “leadership self-help”:
Don’t believe your own hype. Keep your ego and pride in check. Ego is the enemy of good leadership.
Know and control your appetites. Unchecked cravings such as the desire for power, control, money, success, recognition, prestige, or accolades can cloud your judgment and crack the foundation of your integrity.
“Integrity is the most important characteristic of a leader,
and one that he or she must be prepared to demonstrate again and again.”
-Warren Bennis, leadership scholar
Share power. The more centralized power becomes, the greater the potential for abuse. Focus on collaborating with others, delegating, and empowering people. Better yet, unleash people by giving them an “automatic license to lead” and take initiative, as long as they operate in accordance with the organization’s shared values.*
“People have greatness inside them… so my job is to unleash their potential, not control them.”
-Stephen M. R. Covey, Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others
Compensate for your weaknesses. All leaders have flaws and leadership derailers. Build a team around you comprised of people with different strengths.
Leadership Derailers Assessment
Take this assessment to identify what’s inhibiting your leadership effectiveness. It will help you develop self-awareness and identify ways to improve your leadership.
Stay healthy and balanced. Don’t neglect your mental and physical health. Avoid workaholism and the exhaustion and bad judgment that comes with it. (See “The Problem with Tired Leaders.”)
“Balanced leaders develop healthier organizations.”
-Bill George, former Medtronic CEO and leadership author
Be reflective. Thoughtful introspection sharpens self-awareness and fuels growth. By pausing to evaluate your actions, motives, and impact, you’ll gain deeper insight and avoid repeating mistakes.
Develop a personal support system. Leadership can be emotionally demanding and isolating. A trusted circle of mentors, peers, and confidants can help you stay grounded and make better decisions. (See “The Power of Small Groups—And How to Run Them.”)
Remember the mission. Leadership is a trust, not a platform for personal gain. By keeping the organization’s shared purpose and values at the center of your decisions, you can align your actions with the needs of the group. Always ensure that your leadership serves something larger than yourself. (See “How to Create a Shared Purpose, Values, and Vision.”)
Get reliable and complete information and disseminate it. Wise decisions depend on truth, not assumptions. Recognize that the information you receive is likely filtered by people who want to curry favor with or please you. Stay in touch with reality. Probe for problems and risks. Good leaders make sure everyone has what they need to act effectively.
Establish a culture of openness in which you welcome dissent. By welcoming different perspectives and constructive challenge, you can improve decision-making and guard against blind spots and groupthink.
“…no one is more valuable to the organization than the subordinate willing to speak truth to power.”
-Warren Bennis, leadership scholar
Recruit and rely on strong independent advisors. Recognize the value of unfiltered insight and objective counsel. Surround yourself with people who speak the truth—especially when it’s hard.
Establish and employ a system of checks and balances. By distributing power and instilling accountability into your organization, you can ensure transparency, promote trust, and prevent abuse.
Connect with all your important stakeholders. Leadership is relational, not just positional. By engaging with those you serve and influence, you can build trust, gain valuable insight, and ensure your decisions reflect the needs and realities of the broader community.
Limit your tenure. Leaders tend to acquire bad habits over time. Look for signs of when it’s time to pass the torch. Work on succession proactively and systematically.
Personal Values Exercise
Complete this exercise to identify your personal values. It will help you develop self-awareness, including clarity about what’s most important to you in life and work, and serve as a safe harbor for you to return to when things are tough.
Conclusion
Leadership is a profound responsibility—one that requires vigilance, humility, and a commitment to growth. If you suspect you’re veering toward bad leadership, take preventive action. By tempering ego, sharing power, taking time for reflection, developing relationships, and building strong systems, you can lead with greater integrity and impact.
What will you do to elevate your leadership, starting today?
–Gregg Vanourek
Tools for You
- Leadership Derailers Assessment to help you identify what’s inhibiting your leadership effectiveness
- Personal Values Exercise to help you determine and clarify what’s most important to you
- Traps Test (Common Traps of Living) to help you identify what’s inhibiting your happiness and quality of life
Related Articles
- “BAD Leadership: 7 Types”
- “What Followers Can Do about Bad Leaders”
- “Why People Fall for Toxic Leaders”
- “Toxic Leaders, Susceptible Followers”
- “The Problem of Bad Leaders—And Why We Keep Following Them”
- “Why Are We Talking about Ethics?”
- “The Importance of Integrity in Leadership”
- Barbara Kellerman, Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters (Harvard Business School Press, 2004)
- Barbara Kellerman, Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers (Oxford University Press, 2024)
- Jean Lipman-Blumen, The Allure of Toxic Leaders (Oxford University Press, 2005)
* Source: Bob and Gregg Vanourek, Triple Crown Leadership: Building Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring Organizations (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012).
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Gregg Vanourek is a writer, teacher, and TEDx speaker on leadership and personal development. He is co-author of three books, including Triple Crown Leadership: Building Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring Organizations (a winner of the International Book Awards written with his father, Bob Vanourek) and LIFE Entrepreneurs (a manifesto for living with purpose and passion). Check out his Leadership Derailers Assessment or join his rapidly growing community. If you found value in this, please forward it to a friend. Every little bit helps!
