ABSTRACT
Toxic leadership is by far the biggest challenge in leadership and organizational behavior because of the damage it confers on individuals, on organizations, and on society at large. Individually, humans, including those in executive leadership positions, are ranked in different places on the spectrum covering the wide range between healthy narcissism and psychopathy. Research supports the thesis that in organizations executives sit more frequently on the far (but not extreme far) end of the spectrum compared to neurotypicals: some corporations specifically target candidates with psychopathic traits for certain executive positions. Toxic executives might therefore be even more common than psychologists believe, which suggests that organizations don’t adequately address the challenge. Toxic leadership in organizations raises important questions: why are toxic leaders tolerated by organizations? Why are some people subliminally attracted to them? What can organizations do to sniff out the psychopaths among job candidates? Can some toxic leaders be called “successful?” Might the world need toxic leaders so that it can progress?
