ABSTRACT
Leaders and leadership, as well as the nature and quality of followers as individuals and in groups, are by far one of the most dominant features of any workplace. Questioning the assumption that the transformational leader, most often male, is an organizational asset who raises productivity, profitability, shareholder value, and morale is important. Any new leader, much less a transformational leader, is burdened by the baggage he or she brings to the task of leading, as well as the vastness of the psychodynamics of close subordinates and the larger organization as a whole. The presumed fiduciary relationship between corporate leaders and employees, customers, stockholders, and other stakeholders has long been nullified. Leaders may have followers who are, along a range, loyal and unquestioning, or at the other end of the range, steadfastly oppositional. Each perspective informs and complements the other to access the inner experience of leadership and followership in countless toxic American workplaces.
