How to Spot a Bad Leader, in 2009 and 2019

Nearly 10 years ago, in 2009, I drew on leadership research for a series of posts on bad leadership. Two of these were titled “How to Spot a Bad Leader” (parts 1 and 2). Drawing on these decade-old lists, let's examine the Donald Trump presidency from the perspective of bad leadership.

The first way to spot a bad leader is through the Use of Threats and Punishment. The excessive use of punishment by a leader is a bad strategy because it focuses on stopping undesirable behavior rather than encouraging positive behaviors in those being led. How about threats? As I said in 2009, “Threats can only be effective if a boss is willing to follow through with the threatened punishment.”

To be fair, many presidents have occasionally used threats (as in a threat to veto legislation) and punishment (such as firing staff members who fail). President Trump is no exception. He has, however, made a habit of threatening opponents, both in speeches and on social media. (See this CNN article titled, “President Trump really, really likes to make threats,” which lists many of those threats, ranging from suing authors and journalists, to jailing Hillary Clinton.)

The Use of Fear Tactics is the second way to spot a bad leader. As the 2009 post states, “Fear can cause stress, and in extremes, reductions in performance and efficiency … Fear can cause groups and organizations to 'hunker down' and go into a self-protective mode that can stifle creativity and innovation.” Donald Trump has made a habit of invoking fear, especially of immigrants, throughout his presidency. In fact, Bob Woodward’s critical book on Trump is titled Fear.

Creating Factions: Ingroups vs. Outgroups. Piggybacking on inducing fear is the use of a very strong ingroup/outgroup bias. Designating certain groups as enemies (for Trump this list would begin with immigrants, the press, and Democrats). The bad leader then caters only to loyal, ingroup members while vilifying the outgroup. As I wrote in 2009, “Bad leaders cultivate their ingroups with favors, and that makes it difficult … to dislodge the leader from the position of power. The ingroup followers defend the leader and work to keep him or her in power. Bad leaders often exist because their followers allow them to remain.”

Self-Serving Use of Power. Bad leaders work for themselves, and for the benefit of those in the inner circle who support them. They use power to enrich themselves. This is consistent with accusations that President Trump’s policies and practices are enriching him, and people like him. As written in 2009: “Bad leaders let that power go to their heads and do things that are in their own best interests without considering the interests of the collective.”

Narcissistic Leaders: It’s All About Them. I will simply quote my 2009 post, "How to Spot a Bad Leader II: Really Bad Leaders," to see if it applies to President Trump: “Narcissists believe that they are the center of the universe and everything is about them. Criticism or any sort of disagreement is taken personally and is akin to mutiny. For narcissists you are either with them or against them and only those in the inner circle will get favors and plum assignments.”

Deceitful Leaders. In 2009, I argued that “followers value integrity and honesty in their leaders” and that “leaders who are caught lying, particularly if they refuse to own up to the lie and ask forgiveness will lose the trust of their followers." (I had Bill Clinton in mind when I wrote that.) This definitely applies to President Trump–at least the part about being deceitful, as he is breaking all records for incidence of a president lying. My concern, particularly after the pattern of Trump’s outright lies, and the continued support of members of his base, is that many followers do not value integrity and honesty in their leaders, and that is a cause for concern.

So, what is the verdict? In 2009, I relied on research to extract the behaviors and characteristics associated with bad leaders. Nearly all of these behaviors are on full display in the Trump presidency. The bottom line: History shows that most bad leaders leave those they lead worse off in the long run.

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/#!/ronriggio