Barbara Kellerman
American professor in leadership at Harvard University (pictured right).
Key books
Bad Leadership (2004)
There are seven types of bad leadership:
- incompetent (lacking necessary skills).
- rigid (unable to change).
- intemperate (lacking self-discipline).
- callous (treating people badly),
- corrupt (being a liar, thief, or cheat) .
- insular (ignoring other people and external events).
- evil (committing atrocities).
So bad leaders are:
Bad leadership can be blamed on not only the leaders but also their followers for letting it happen.
Key quote on leadership
Ideal leaders and followers are, at the same time, effective and ethical
Followership (2008)
The best followers are highly self-motivated (or engaged) to help leaders achieve their
vision and objectives.
They shouldn’t be detached and uninvolved (isolates, or bystanders), but
actively supportive of the leader (participants, activists or
diehards)
Key quote on leadership
Better followership often begets better leadership.
The End of Leadership (2012)
People follow a leader because they:
- want to (the much better option)
So successful leaders empower their followers to take responsibility for results by being:
- sensitive to people’s needs
- trustworthy and ethical (filling the trust gap between leaders
and followers).
- effective (leaders doing what they say and achieving their vision and
objectives).
Great leaders need followers who must also have the will and ability to resist bad leaders.
Key quote
Leaders are supposed to suggest or recommend that their followers follow, not order them to do so.
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