ABSTRACT
In the following chapter on the pathology of leadership we shed some light on the phenomenon of pathological leadership or mis-leadership. We discuss the matter based on two premises: on the one hand, drawing attention to the mistakes our readers have made or observed with others over the years. In other words, learning from one’s own mistakes and those made by others. The second premise is the potent lessons which can be extracted from deviant behavior: if you want to understand health, you must study sickness. Furthermore, we scrutinize a number of specific cases where mis-leadership took place. We take a look at the triarchic model of psychopathy to share a (seemingly) simple model which encapsulates the most relevant dimensions of pathological behavior. This model gives guidance when observing mis-leadership that might indicate pathology. In conclusion, we offer a number of lessons learned from our discussion of mis-leadership as well as some questions to ponder or discuss with a sparring partner for the sake of self-development.
