ABSTRACT
The term "tyrant" was first used in the seventh century bc to describe the King of Lydia, the first foreign ruler to bring Greece under complete control. This chapter explores tyrants through history in governmental roles and nobility, and addresses organizational tyrants. Tyranny is often interconnected with the term "abusive leadership". However, abusive leadership focuses on personal attacking behaviors, including ridicule, negative comments, and rudeness and lies, and is not linked to the target's work task as it is to the actual person themselves. While history has many historical tyrants to choose from, the following will look at the rule of Joseph Stalin and provides a historical account of his behavior and how his tyrant leadership style impacted millions of people under his leadership. Many are familiar with the tyrant behaviors of Hitler, but fewer are able to identify the tyrant behaviors of Joseph Stalin.
