When Leadership Fails Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences (Lonnie R. Morris, Jr., Wendy M. Edmonds) (z-lib.org) (1)

78 Lonnie R. Morris I was also a manager supervising multiple units and a few dozen employees. The performance appraisal guidance I recall was procedural – adhere to these deadlines, gather these signatures, submit through this portal. The processes lacked discussions about proper employee evaluation, appropriate feedback strategies, navigating difficult conversations and coaching employees for success. Both organizations treated performance appraislals as managerial means to organizational ends (Longenecker & Ludwig, 1990). Audit performance appraisals to ensure organizational integrity. Performance appraisal mistakes contribute to institutional gatekeeping. Managers report employee performance using selective language to combine details in ways that convey potentially self-serving narratives (Rosen et al., 2017; Van De Mieroop & Schnurr, 2014). This came to pass at Medium College USA. My unit surpassed customer and revevue targets. Then, as we began preparing for the next cycle, I was terminated. In my separation meeting, the division vice president conceded my manager wanted to hire her own person. Neither the vice president or human resources director responded to my memo refuting the manager’s heinouos performance appraisal months earlier. Yet with my termination they offered me an endoresement letter and employment reference. I declined both. I experienced this moment as the epitome of unfairness (Goksoy & Alayoglu, 2013), injustice (Jacobs et al., 2014), manipulation (Longenecker & Ludwig, 1990) and dissatisfaction (Dusterhoff et al., 2014) too often associated with performance appraisals. All hints of organizational integrity at Medium College USA shattered in that moment. Conclusion Performance appraisal mistakes can have positive and negative lasting effects. Both were true of my experiences. As an employee I developed a sense of distrust for the culprit managers, the organizational process, and to some deegree, performance appraisals in general. Both relationships became strained; I communicated with them as needed. Conversely, the experiences strengthened my ethical leadership resolve as a manager. Over the years, acute awareness of such issues informed my intentional modeling of behaviors that communicate care, support, respect, fairness, integrity and justice. I strive to be the example my previous managers needed and my current co-workers and employees deserve. References Axline, L. L. (1996). Viewpoints: The ethics of performance appraisal. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal, 61(1), 44. Belsito, C. A., & Reutzel, C. R. (2019). SME employee performance appraisal formalization and trust in leadership change. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 28(2), 434–456. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/IJOA07-2019-1832

Ethics, Leadership and the Dreaded Performance Appraisal 79 Brown, M. E., Trevino, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behaviot and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117–134. Dusterhoff, C., Cunningham, J., & MacGregor, J. (2014). The effects of performance rating, leader-member exchange, perceived utility and organizational justice on performance appraisal satisfaction: Applying a moral judgment perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(2), 265–273. doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1634-1 Garden, R., Hu, X., Zhan, Y., & Wei, F. (2018). The role of workplace popularity: Links to employee characteristics and supervisor-rated outcomes. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 25(1), 19–29. doi:10.1777/1548051817712876 Goksoy, A., & Alayoglu, N. (2013). The impact of perception of performance appraisal and distributive justice fairness on employees’ ethical decision making in paternalist organizational culture. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(1), 57–79. doi:10.1002/piq.21137 Jacobs, G., Belschak, F. D., & den Hartog, D. N. (2014). (Un)ethical behavior and performance appraisal role of affect, support and organizational justice. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 63–76. Kalshoven, K., & Boon, C. T. (2012). Ethical leadership, employee well-being and helping: The moderating role of human resource management. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 11(1), 60–68. doi:10.1027/1866-5888/a000056 Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., & De Hoogh, A. H. (2011). Ethical leadership at work questionnaire (ELW): Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 51–69. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.007 Liu, Y., Loi, R., & Lam, L. M. (2013). Exemplification and supervisor-rated performance: The moderating role of ethical leadership. International Journal of Selection & Assessment, 21(2), 145–154. doi:10.1111/ijsa.12025 Longenecker, C., & Ludwig, D. (1990). Ethical dilemmas in performance appraisal revisited. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(12), 961–969. Misiak, S. (2010). Ethical system for employee performance appraisal in practice. Economics & Sociology, 3(2), 101–113. doi:10.14254/2071-789x.2010/3-2/11 Mo, S., & Shi, J. (2017). Linking ethical leadership to employee burnout, workplace deviance and performance: Testing the mediating roles of trust in leader surface acting. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(2), 293–303. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.oclc. org/10.1007/s10551-015-2821-z Morris, L. R., Thomas, T., Sippio, D., & Bolton, D. (2017). An ethical leader’s guide to social media: Prelude to a framework for leader ethical digital identity. Proceedings of the International Center for Global Leadership, Belize, 5, 32–39. Neck, C. P., & Stewart, G. L., & Manz, C. C. (1995). Thought self-leadership as a framework for enhancing the performance of performance appraisers. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 31(3), 278–302. Rathore, N., & Singh, A. (2018). Determinants and outcomes of ethical leadership in unversities: A scale development. International Journal of Leadership, 6(1), 7–18. Rosen, C., Kacmar, K., Harris, K., Gavin, M., & Hochwarter, W. (2017). Workplace politics and performance appraisal. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 24(1), 20–38. doi:10.1177/1548051816661480 Sabiu, M. S., Kura, K. M., Mei, T. S., Raihan Joarder, M. H., & Umrani, W. A. (2019). The mediating role of ethical climate in the relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance. International Journa of Public Administration, 42(8), 843–853. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2018.1498105 Trevino, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003). A qualitative investigation of perceived executive ethical leadership: Perceptions from inside and outside the executive suite. Human Relations, 56(1), 5–37.

80 Lonnie R. Morris Van De Mieroop, D., & Schnurr, S. (2014). Negotiating meaning and co-constructing institutionalisable answers: Leadership through gate-keeping in performance appraisal interviews. Journal of Pragmatics, 67, 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2014.03.008 Yariv, E. (2009). The appraisal of teachers’ performance and its impact on the mutuality of principal-teacher emotions. School Leadership & Managemetn, 29(5), 445–461. doi:10.1080/13632430903152302 Yukl, G., Mahsud, R., & Prussia, G. E. (2013). An improved measure of ethical leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 20(1), 8–38.

Chapter 8 Autocratic Leadership among Managers and Its Impact on Salespersons Behavior in India’s Pharmaceutical Industry G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan Abstract If any organization wants to be globally recognized leadership plays an important role. This chapter deals with the leadership failure in creating good salesperson behavior in India’s pharmaceutical industry. There are four types of salesperson’s behavior: selling orientation, customer orientation, adaptive selling, and unethical selling. Selling oriented and unethical selling behaviors negatively impact customer trust and customer value, while customer orientation and adaptive are more positive. This chapter explores how senior managers can create good organization culture and organization climate by creating positive sales behavior. This chapter will be an eye opener to many first-line managers for helping their salespersons to practice customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior. Keywords: Customer orientation; customer trust; customer value organizational culture; selling orientation; unethical selling Introduction A leader should have a vision, purpose, values and honesty; a good leader should be motivator to the employees. A good leader should motivate his employees to provide excellent service to the customers (Beer, 2001, p. 233). If any organization wants to globally recognized in this highly competitive world authentic leadership is important (Luthans & Avolio, 2003, p. 246). There should be an authentic relationship between managers and sales executive for keeping them motivated in the job (Seligman 2002, p. 1). If you look at the Pharmaceutical Industry in When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, 81–90 Copyright © 2021 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-80043-766-120211008

82 G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan India, the companies use personnel selling as the main marketing strategy to sell their medicines. A pharmaceutical company operating all over India, they deploy one or two or more medical representatives (salesperson) to sell their product in a district. Then there will be an Area Sales Manager taking care of two to three districts and there will be a Regional Sales Manager taking care of the State and for a zone (e.g., Southern states of India) there will be a Zonal Manager reporting to VP Sales and CEO. This is the whole structure of a Pharmaceutical Company. Definition Selling‐oriented behavior among salesperson is defined as the selling technique that the salesperson will try to convince the customer using pressurizing selling tactics without understanding the needs and wants of the customer by painting a rosy picture about the product (Saxe & Weitz, 1982, p. 346). Customer‐oriented behavior among salesperson is defined as the selling technique that identify and cater to the needs and wants of the customers for solving their problems (Schwepker, 2003, p. 151). Adaptive selling behavior among the salesperson is defined as the selling technique is the ability of a salesperson to change his sales behavior while interacting with customers, or based on perceived information about the nature of sales situations, such as correcting communication styles, content and sales behaviors (Weitz, 1981, p. 86). Unethical selling behavior is defined as the selling technique that practiced by the salesperson to convince the customers with lie, misrepresentation and fraudulence to close the sale (Bellizzi & Hite, 1989, p. 39). Leadership Failure Factor I was reporting to Area Sales Manager as a Medical Sales Representative at the time when I was working with Pharmaceutical company. Area Sales Manager used to put lot of pressure on Medical Sales representative (Executives) for achieving the sales target which is a bit unrealistic. This was not only in my case, it is with everyone in the company. I am not saying that target is a nightmare to Medical Sales Representative; my view is that target should be realistic. If we work hard it should be achievable. The company is setting goals which are hard to achieve will put pressure on Zonal Sales Manager to Regional Manager to Areas Sales Manager and the final ring in the chain is the Medical Sales Representatives. If there is too much sales pressure, the Medical Sales Representatives/Salesperson will practice selling orientation and unethical selling behavior rather than practicing customeroriented and adaptive selling behavior. In my previous researches and many other researches; it is noted that selling-oriented behavior and unethical selling behavior is having a negative impact on customer trust and customer value. The salesperson who practices customer oriented and adaptive selling behavior has a positive impact on customer trust and customer value. If a salesperson want to practice customer-oriented behavior or adaptive selling behavior, a great motivation and support from the top management, managers especially from Area Sales Manager

Autocratic Leadership among Managers 83 is important. If a company has an over pressurized selling strategy, the salespersons will surely practice selling oriented and unethical selling behavior will create a negative attitude in the mind of customers during a long run. This is a big leadership failure, I witnessed in the pharmaceutical company I worked with. Ninety-nine percent of the pharma company strategy is the same. If the CEO wants the company to over pressurize the managers and salespersons, it will lead to a negative organization climate and culture. It will not be creating happiness at work and organizational citizenship behavior among medical representatives/salespersons. An authentic happiness at work is really important to create positive psychology among salespersons, which leads to positive outcomes in salespersons behaviour and performance (Seligman 2002, p. 1). I worked as a medical sales representative from May 2006 to June 2008. Our company was newly launched. I was from the beginning of the company. The company’s headquarter was in Ahmedabad and I was in charge of the capital city of Kerala, that is, Trivandrum. I was in charge of the entire district Trivandrum. Our company was promoting products in cardiac–diabetic segment. When I started working for the company, the day 1 itself from my Area Sales Manager and the Induction Training Team, I came to know that there is a hectic cut throat competition in the cardiac–diabetic section. The company started in May 2006 with a target of Rs. 1,50,000 and there will be an increase of Rs. 30,000 every month. For me the exact target should start from Rs. 80,000. In the launching month itself the target given to me and other medical representatives was very high. I should say the target was hectic and unrealistic. To gain familiarity with doctors itself will take some time. What I felt was, while the company fixing targets, they had not analyzed the potential of the market and the had never considered the competition in cardiac–diabetic segment. If the company set an unrealistic target an automatic pressurized feeling will start from Zonal Sales Manager to Regional Manager to Area Sales Manager, and finally to Medical Sales Representative. This company had a monthly sales review meeting. First sales review meeting itself was discussing about target, I really felt a selling concept in the company. I believe in customer orientation and holistic marketing concept rather than selling-oriented concept. All the Medical Sales Representatives and Area Sales Manager attended the meeting got pressurized on the sales target for the next month. Actually, the exerted pressure on Medical Sales Representative like me started doing selling approach by imparting selling-oriented sales behavior in us. We concentrated more on selling the product rather than understanding the needs of the customer. The only thing that was in our mind was the sales closing date and target attainment. If we are creating a pressurized selling culture in an organization, it will create a negativity in sales behavior among medical representatives. The different sales behavior is explained in the view point of Medical Sales Representatives are as follows. Selling‐oriented selling behavior among medical sales representatives: If a medical representative is approaching with a diabetic product to a doctor, the medical representative of the pharma company is representing will have different drugs (molecule) for treating diabetics. Some examples of drugs used by doctors for treating diabetics was metformin, glimepiride, glibenclamide, etc. Some doctors

84 G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan won’t prescribe glibenclamide for treating diabetics, if the medical representative is approaching the doctor and promote glibenclamide, which is a drug that was not prescribed by doctor. We can say that the medical representative is approaching the doctor without understanding his needs and wants. Before we visit a doctor for promoting a drug, we should take information from the pharmacy and the nearby medical shop to understand, which drug is been prescribed by the doctor for a particular disease at different levels. If this is not done, we can say that the particular person is practicing selling orientation. If the medical representative is painting a rosy picture about the drug also another classical situation of selling orientation behavior. Another situation is that the medical sales representative will stretch the truth about a product to the customer. Selling-oriented sales behavior is practiced when there is a huge pressure to achieve the target from the front-line manager and the company. Customer‐oriented selling behavior among medical sales representatives: If a medical representative is approaching a doctor after analyzing his needs and wants and promoting products accordingly. The medical representative approaching doctor should have a positive mindset of helping doctors in making satisfactory purchase decisions. Medical representative should only offer drugs which are really suitable to doctors for prescribing to a disease. Medical representatives should accurately describe the product. The medical representative should never pressurize the doctor in purchasing or prescribing the medicine offered by the company. If a medical representative wants to practice customer-oriented selling behavior, there should be a good motivating organizational environment is important. The organization and the managers at different levels should promote customer-oriented selling behavior. Adaptive selling behavior among medical sales representatives: The medical representative practicing adaptive selling behavior will always have different strategies to different customers. The salesperson will be flexible enough to tackle any selling situations. The medical representatives will be flexible with different selling approaches in different selling circumstances. This adaptive selling behavior will create a positiveness in the mind of the customer which helps to create customer trust and customer value. Unethical selling behavior among medical sales representatives: Unethical selling behavior among medical representatives are making false claim about the products, making false claim about competitors, answering the queries of customers without proper knowledge, misrepresentation, etc., are some classical unethical selling behaviors practiced among medical sales representatives. The selling orientated and unethical sales behavior has a negative relationship with trust toward the salesperson and trust toward the selling firm. The customer orientated and adaptive selling behavior has a positive relationship with trust toward the salesperson and trust toward the selling firm. Now after doing many researches in the area of salesperson’s behavior, I realized that the company should take initiative to create a customer-oriented selling culture in an organization. It is all about creating a long-lasting relationship with the customers, that is, doctors. In pharmaceutical industry, customers are dictators rather than a king.

Autocratic Leadership among Managers 85 The major leadership failure in the company that I worked and many other companies are that they always promote a selling orientation concept in marketing by putting too much sales pressure on all levels like Zonal Sales Manager, Regional Manager, Area Sales Manager, and Medical Sales Representatives. The CEO of the company should have given importance to customer orientation selling strategies to impart a great culture of customer centricity. Background When I was working with a pharmaceutical company; there I witnessed a huge leadership failure in my company. In the company that I worked, I can see a huge pressure of target imposed on Zonal Manager to Regional Manager to Area Sales Manager and finally reaches the Medical Sales Representative, that is, the salesperson. In that company, I was working as a Medical Sales Representative. The problem faced by the managers and salesperson in our company was severe sales pressure from the company and top officials. The major problem everyone was facing was unachievable targets. Since every medical representative was pressurized every day for the targets by the managers at different levels, it even affected the happiness toward the work. Even I felt the company’s school of thought in the management belongs to scientific management which was exercised in early nineteenth century at the time of imperialism and colonialism at its peak. At the year 2015, I started doing my research as part of my PhD program. In my mind the major research problem was the same research problem I identified when I was working with pharmaceutical industry. After the gap of four years in industry, my major question was that now also the same issue is there in the industry. Then I done interview with managers at different levels and some medical sales representatives. Then I came to know that pressurized selling is still prevailing in pharmaceutical industry. Then I learned about different salesperson behavior and how it creates trust and value toward the customer. The different types of salesperson’s behavior are as follows: 1. Selling-oriented behavior – Customer-oriented behavior (SOCO) 2. Adaptive selling behavior 3. Unethical selling Selling Orientation – Customer Orientation (SOCO) The salespersons practicing selling orientation behavior will give more importance in creating immediate sales without considering customer needs and wants and customer satisfaction. On the other side of the coin the salesperson who practices customer orientation will give more importance to customer benefit and customer satisfaction (Dunlap, Dotson, & Chambers, 1988, p. 186). Customer-oriented behavior is the implementation of the marketing concept in interactions between individual sales people and their customers (Saxe & Weitz, 1982). According to Saxe and Weitz (1982) in their paper titled “The SOCO

86 G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan Scale: A Measure of the Customer Orientation of Sales People” says that there is some expected behavior from a salesperson who practices customer-oriented behavior (p. 344). The expected behaviors are as follows: ⦁ Helping the customers to evaluate and understand their customer benefit, customer needs and wants. ⦁ The salesperson should possess high product knowledge and he should have a good articulating skill for describing the product to the customers. ⦁ Customer-oriented salesperson should never act against customer expectation. ⦁ Salespersons who practice customer orientation behavior should never mislead, cheat or betray customer. ⦁ Salespersons who practice customer orientation behavior should never pressurize the customer to buy particular product/service. ⦁ Salespersons who practice customer orientation behavior should help customers to make suitable purchase decision. ⦁ Organization culture do plays an important role in making their salespersons to practice customer-oriented approach rather than selling-oriented approach toward customers while doing personnel selling (Brown, Mowen, Donavan, & Licata, 2002, p. 117). Adaptive Selling Adaptive selling behavior is defined as the “altering of selling behavior during a customer interaction or across customer interactions based on perceive information about the nature of selling situation” (Weitz, Sujan, & Sujan, 1986, p. 173). Spiro and Weitz (1990) in the paper titled “Adaptive Selling: Conceptualization, Measurement and Nomological Validity” described that there are six different aspects measuring adaptive selling behavior: (1) for different selling circumstances, different selling tactics and methodologies are needed; (2) the salesperson should have good confidence to use diverse selling tactics; (3) confidence in the capability to adjust the selling tactics during a customer interaction; (4) the salesperson should have adequate knowledge on different selling tactics and he should be brilliant enough to convert the knowledge on different selling tactics to sales strategies which is suitable for each situations; (5) the collection of information about the sales situation is important to facilitate adaptation; and (6) finally, the salesperson should make use of different tactics and methodologies according to different selling circumstances (p. 63). Unethical Selling Salespersons of organizations have carried significant duty regarding organization’s sales and benefit. Therefore, they are under weight to advance their execution which, sometimes, causes to depend on some ill-advised and unethical techniques for additional sales (Cornelia Denisa Ivan, 2014, p. 20). When the competition got increased, the unethical practices also increased simultaneously.

Autocratic Leadership among Managers 87 The customer will lose credibility and trust if there is no straightforwardness and transparency about the offering offered by the selling firm (Reena & Saiyed, 2016, p. 8). If a salesperson is not properly supervised, chances for doing an unethical selling practice by him will be on the higher side (Crosby, Evans, & Cowles, 1990, p. 74). If the sales pressure for the salespersons are very high, chances for practicing unethical behavior will be more. Researches said that salesperson’s ethical behavior creates higher level of customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer loyalty (Román, 2003, p. 924). Some of the unethical practices followed by salespersons are as follows: ⦁ Salespersons lies about competitors and competitor brands – with a specific end goal to make a successful selling encounter. ⦁ Salespersons lie about the product/service offered by the selling firm with a specific end goal to make a purchase deal with the customer. ⦁ Salespersons exaggerate potential advantages of the product offered by the selling firm. ⦁ Giving wrong information to the customer without proper product knowledge. ⦁ Using ambiguous language by the salesperson to confuse the customer regarding the products/service offered by the selling firm. Selling an offering to the customer that is not suitable to his needs and wants. Cooper and Frank (1991) in his research studies, the accompanying factors impact unethical selling behavior are: (1) personal ethical values and principles; (2) family members and companions who give backing and understanding in determining ethical issues; (3) immediate manager who does not pressurize salesperson in compromising his ethical and moral principles; and (4) a company’s organizational culture which does not inspire salesperson to compromise his ethical and moral principles for achieving organizational objectives. From the above mentioned four different types of salesperson behavior, selling orientation and unethical selling behavior is having a negative relationship with customer trust and customer value. Customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior has a positive relationship with customer trust and customer value. If the salesperson is under severe pressure exerted by the company and CEO’s, they will surely have a tendency to practice selling orientation or unethical selling behavior. Individual Level In Individual level all managers in a Pharmaceutical Company should create a positive relationship with the salesperson and the managers should make them confident to practice customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior while they interact with the customers. If a company want to create long-lasting relationship with the customers – salesperson interacting process is important. If the managers especially the first-line manager (Area Sales Manager) is putting too much pressure on the salesperson will create a negative impact that leads the

88 G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan salesperson to practice selling orientation and unethical behavior in sales which ultimately creates a short-term success and a long-term failure in creating longlasting relationship with the customers. Group Level All levels managers should jointly take a step to create a conducive environment for the salespersons to raise their concerns and issues while interacting with the customers to close the sale. The managers should provide good product training to impart good product knowledge. So, they can handle any question regarding them and the competitors. All level managers in that particular organization should promote customer orientation and adaptive selling while dealing with the customers. For practicing customer orientation or adaptive selling behavior, support from the first-line manager is really important. Organization Level In the organization level, Senior Level Managers should create a good and conducive organization climate for the salespersons to practice customer oriented and adaptive selling behavior. If managers are putting lot of pressure on the salespersons, it will affect the morale of the salesperson and will end up in practicing selling oriented or unethical selling behavior. If a salesperson is not performing well and the salesperson is practicing selling oriented or unethical selling behavior, it is a leadership failure. This type of leadership failure is that I witnessed in my company. I had done my PhD research work also on the same area. Many pharmaceutical companies are pressurizing the salesperson to achieve target and finally the customer – salesperson relationship is badly affected. Leadership Lesson ⦁ Senior manager should create a good organization culture and climate to practice customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior for creating customer trust and customer value. ⦁ If the manager is too autocratic to salesperson about the targets, from that instance itself the salesperson will start practicing selling orientated and unethical behavior which will end up in creating a negative impact on customer trust and customer value. ⦁ An ethical orientation should be imparted to salespersons by the managers. ⦁ First-line manager should maintain a good and motivating relationship with the salespersons. So, they can practice customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior. ⦁ There should be a positive emotional relationship between first-line manager (Area Sales Manager) and the salesperson, that is, Medical Sales Representative. It is all about creating an organizational citizenship behavior to salesperson.

Autocratic Leadership among Managers 89 ⦁ The manager had to take care of salesperson’s happiness at work too, because salesperson is having the direct relationship with the customers. If a salesperson is not happy with the mangers or the company policies; it will affect the customers. Conclusion If any pharmaceutical company has to be successful for a long run, the company should promote an organization culture and climate that is conducive enough to practice customer oriented and adaptive selling behavior. Nowadays, it is all about relationship marketing, if a salesperson wants to create a long-lasting relationship, they had to practice customer orientation and adaptive selling. For that a support from the managers and the company is important. Company should create a working environment that supports customer orientation and adaptive selling rather than selling orientation and unethical selling. This was the major issue that I face when I was working as a Medical Representative in a pharmaceutical industry. This chapter will be an eye opener to many first-line managers for helping their salespersons to practice customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior. References Beer, M. (2001). How to develop an organization capable of sustained high performance: Embrace the drive for results–capability development paradox. Organizational Dynamics, 29, 233–247. Bellizzi, J., & Hite, R. (1989). Supervising unethical salesforce behavior. Journal of Marketing, 53(2), 36–47. Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J. W (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait effects on self and supervisory performance ratings. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), 110–119. Cooper, R. W., & Frank, G. L. (1991). Ethics in the Life Insurance Industry: The issues, helps and hindrances. Journal of the American Society of CLU & ChFC, 45, 54–66. Cornelia Denisa Ivan. (2014). Ethical behaviour in sales and its effect on customers. Valahian Journal of Economic Studies, 5(19), 17–26. Crosby, L., Evans, K., & Cowles, D. (1990). Relationship quality in services selling: An interpersonal influence perspective. Journal of Marketing, 54(3), 68–81. Dunlap, B. J., & Dotson, M. J., & Chambers, T. M. (1988). Perceptions of real-estate brokers and buyers: A sales-orientation, customer-orientation approach. Journal of Business Research, 17(2), 175–187. Luthans, F., & Avolio, B. J. (2003). Authentic leadership: A positive developmental approach. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship (pp. 241–261). San Francisco, CA: Barrett-Koehler. Reena, T., & Saiyed, W. A. (2016). Ethical issues in insurance marketing in India: The policy holders’ view. SIBM Pune Research Journal, 11(1), 1–12. Román, S. (2003). The impact of ethical sales behaviour on customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty to the company: An empirical study in the financial services industry. Journal of Marketing Management, 19(9–10), 915–939.

90 G. Arun and C. G. Manoj Krishnan Saxe, R., & Weitz, B. A. (1982). The SOCO Scale: A measure of the customer orientation of salespeople. Journal of Marketing Research, 19(3), 343–351. Schwepker, C. H., Jr. (2003). Customer-oriented selling: A review, extension, and directions for future research. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 23(2), 151–171. Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment (pp. 1–336). New York, NY: Free Press. Spiro, R. L., & Weitz, B. A. (1990). Adaptive selling: Conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity. Journal of Marketing Research, 27(1), 61–69. Weitz, B. (1981). Effectiveness in sales interactions: A contingency framework. Journal of Marketing, 45(1), 85–103. Weitz, B. A., Sujan, H., & Sujan, M. (1986). Knowledge, motivation, and adaptive behavior: A framework for improving selling effectiveness. Journal of Marketing, 50(4), 174–191.

Chapter 9 Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment: The Importance of Leading Oneself Randal Joy Thompson Abstract Failing to effectively play their leadership role can have a devastating effect not only on leaders, but also on the group or team they are responsible to lead, as well as on the organization or organizations they belong to and/or serve. In the following example of a leadership failure, the author’s inability to come to the plate to play her required role as a leader had a negative impact on her professional standing, as well as on a number of individuals who she was called to lead. This example illustrates the necessity to master “leading oneself” prior to leading others. Cleaning out the cobwebs in one’s own psyche and mastering emotional intelligence are pre-conditions for effective leadership. This is especially true when leading in a foreign cultural context as this chapter shows. A leader always faces the possibility of having to deal with individuals who bring out those inner parts of oneself that have not yet been dealt with and healed. This chapter focuses on the importance of the key ingredient of leading oneself, namely emotional intelligence. Within emotional intelligence, the author examines her leadership failure in relation to self-awareness and self-regulation while leading a US government foreign assistance project. She highlights the negative impact on her leadership of fear that arose from unresolved past conflicts remaining in my shadow side. “Self-betrayal” emerged as a key factor also in her leadership failure. Keywords: Courage; emotional intelligence; international development; leadership shadows; leading oneself; self-betrayal When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, 91–102 Copyright © 2021 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-80043-766-120211009

92 Randal Joy Thompson Introduction Failing to effectively play their leadership role can have a devastating effect not only on leaders, but also on the group or team they are responsible to lead, as well as on the organization or organizations they belong to and/or serve. In the following example of a leadership failure, my inability to come to the plate to play my required role as a leader had a negative impact on my professional standing, as well as on a number of individuals who I was called to lead. This example illustrates the necessity to master “leading oneself” prior to leading others. Cleaning out the cobwebs in one’s own psyche and mastering emotional intelligence are pre-conditions for effective leadership. A leader always faces the possibility of having to deal with individuals who bring out those inner parts of oneself that have not yet been dealt with and healed. This chapter focuses on the importance of “leading oneself.” In particular, the chapter focuses on the key ingredient of leading oneself, namely emotional intelligence. Within emotional intelligence, I examine my leadership failure in relation to self-awareness and self-regulation. I highlight the negative impact on my leadership of fear that arose from unresolved past conflicts remaining in my shadow side. “Self-betrayal” emerged as a key factor also in my leadership failure. Background My leadership failure occurred on a United States (US) government funded foreign assistance project I was leading in a developing country. The United States delivers foreign assistance via several US government agencies. The assistance is predominantly delivered via projects, defined as temporary organizations that deliver technical assistance, training, and commodities to developing countries to help improve the quality of life of their populace (Thompson, 2016, 2018). Projects are typically designed to improve education, health, infrastructure, business, civil society, and government. The management structure of foreign assistance projects is complex. Generally, the US government agency involved in designing the projects, competing them to private sector for-profit or non-profit businesses, and then managing them ensures that they comply with their contracts and achieve the required results. Along with a US contracting officer, legally responsible for ensuring that the implementing contractor follows the contract, the US government agency involved appoints what is called a “contracting officer representative,” who is the US point of contact with the contractor. Often the contracting officer representative is a foreign national from the aid-receiving developing country. US foreign assistance projects are implemented by contractor teams, led by what is called a chief of party, supported by a deputy chief of party and other members of the team as required to implement the particular project. I was the chief of party of a contractor-led five-year project in a developing country, whose purpose was to monitor and evaluate other US projects to ensure that they were achieving results; to conduct sectoral and other assessments and studies to help the US design a country assistance strategy; to provide training and capacity building to other US contractors and their staff as well as to local government

Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment 93 officials and nongovernment beneficiaries; and to help the United States learn from their projects so that they could make evidence-based decisions about the future projects. Our team had the responsibility to become acquainted with more than 25 US funded projects in the country, to monitor them; to conduct periodic evaluations of their achievements; to invite them to trainings to build their capacity in management, monitoring, and evaluation; and to disseminate lessons learned to improve future management and results. The team members I led were all from the aid-receiving developing country. The team consisted of a deputy chief of party; six monitoring, evaluation, and learning specialists; a geographic information system specialist; and two finance and administrative specialists. The US government contracting officer representative, responsible for managing the project for the United States, was a local country national woman with a strong personality who had worked herself up the ranks of the US agency over her 20-year tenure. This was, however, the first project she had ever managed for the US government. As chief of party, I led the team of 10, who had various responsibilities. The deputy chief of party, in addition to supporting me and replacing me when I went on leave, was building a master list of all the indicators the 25 projects were using to measure their outcomes and impact. He was also taking the lead in reviewing project monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans of each of the projects required so that the US government could track the success of the projects. In addition to helping to review all the US project monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans, the monitoring, evaluation, and learning specialists were involved in project evaluations, and also in developing a complex index to measure the aid-receiving government’s progress in achieving rule-of-law in the country. The geographic information specialist was building maps that represented where projects were working and key points of interest for the US government. Together, our team was developing a complex database system into which all the projects would report their data to measure several levels of results indicators. We also were hosting trainings for the staff of other US funded projects on management, monitoring and evaluation, and geographic information systems. As chief of party, in addition to leading the project team, I was accountable to the US agency and also to the contractor home office that hired me and which I represented. Their contractor home office was located back in the United States. The contractor home office also had an individual called a “program manager” who was responsible for ensuring that our project satisfied the US agency, which was the client, and achieved our purpose and for ensuring that I completed my job professionally and according to US government regulations. The contractor company’s future business depended upon my performance. Table 3 illustrates the three organizations involved in the implementation of foreign assistance projects and the roles played by key personnel within each of these organizations. I had already served as a chief of party for two other similar projects in Iraq and Liberia and had been a Commissioned US Foreign Service Officer for 28 years, and hence I had considerable previous experience in leading. I came to the developing country to replace the first chief of party who was forced to leave after only one month.

94 Randal Joy Thompson Leadership Challenge and Failure Soon after I arrived, I started hearing the stories of the strange occurrences on the project. The contracting officer representative, working for the US agency, who had never played this role before, had adopted a highly authoritarian leadership style which greatly exceeded her authority, as defined in US government regulations, and the contractor company back in the United States, who was new in the business of foreign aid, had been allowing her to overstep her duties and dictate the internal management of the project. She had not liked the first chief of party and two other staff, and hence had pressured the contractor company to terminate them, even though the US government cannot legally tell contractors to fire their staff. She had also required that the contractor hire her friend to work on the project, a highly domineering woman economist also from the developing country who had great ambitions. The contracting officer representative immediately started pressuring me to fire people she did not like. In addition, she came to our project almost daily to give me instructions regarding my staff and informing me of their weaknesses. She also advised me where staff should sit. I had never encountered a contracting officer representative like her and I was perplexed about how to handle her. I actually lived in fear of her visits and her domineering manner, which seemed to threaten me and make me feel like I was not a good leader. My stomach churned at the thought of her and I experienced enormous stress after her visits. As the project progressed, I also developed the fear to confront her or to contact the US contracting officer about her behavior, knowing that if I did, I would be terminated. I realized that I had no voice and this realization caused me emotional and physical pain. I was never allowed to establish myself as the true leader of the project because of the contracting officer representative’s interference. My deputy chief of party, Table 3. Roles of Key Individuals Involved in Project Implementation. Organization Involved Key Personnel Involved in Project Implementation Roles of Key Personnel US Government Agency Contracting Officer Contracting Officer Representative Ensure that contractor achieves goals and meets conditions of the project contract Contractor Home Office Program Manager Oversees project to ensure that it meets the needs and demands of USG Agency client Project in Developing Country Chief of Party Deputy Chief of Party Responsible for achieving project goals and satisfying terms of contract

Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment 95 who she constantly pressured and criticized, could not tolerate her pressure and resigned. Shortly thereafter, another staff, who also felt the displeasure of the contracting officer representative, resigned. I had an excellent relationship with all of the staff, but soon learned that the friend of the contracting officer representative on the project, the domineering economist, had her own plans. The program manager from home office in the United States had romantically fallen in love with this friend and began to be manipulated by her to achieve her ambitions. He pressured me to accept her as my deputy chief of party, since he assumed that the contracting officer representative would want this. He informed me that he would serve as the supervisor of the ambitious economist, not I. This would be the first time in my long career as a leader in which my deputy would not report to me, a situation that essentially thwarted my ability to establish my credibility as the leader of the team. The economist, now my deputy, began making snide comments to me and giving me orders, making me really feel off-balance. I did not know how to deal with her and was afraid to speak to her or anyone else about her changed attitude toward me. The program manager at the contractor home office handled all of the negotiations with the domineering economist so I did not have a direct relationship with her to establish her role, her reporting arrangements, her salary, or future promises made to her about becoming eventually the chief of party. The program manager’s supervisor, also from the contractor home office, happened to be in town so I complained to him that I thought this arrangement was strange. He apparently expressed some anger at the program manager because after that my relationship with the program manager dramatically changed for the worse. He was visibly upset but we never discussed the situation so it remained unclear exactly what his supervisor told him. He began to send me harsh emails at 11 o’clock at night and I had a difficult time sleeping. I called the personnel officer at the company to discuss these emails but I was afraid to tell her who they were from. She just excused the person, saying something like “he was going through a divorce,” making it obvious that she knew who he was, because, in fact, he was in the midst of a divorce. Due to his affection toward the domineering economist, the program manager decided he wanted to have a stronger presence in country and hence he began to push me aside. He began to represent the project in addition to the contracting officer representative. He was also the go-between between the contracting officer representative and me. He had a good relationship with her because he was extremely motivated to please the client. He told the contracting officer representative that I would have a limited presence at an important workshop despite the fact that being chief of party, I was supposed to always attend such events and had always done so before in other projects. I made the mistake of agreeing to my limited presence then changed my mind and went anyway, although I played an insignificant role there, out-staged by the program manager, who played the role I should have been playing. The contracting officer representative became extremely angry and told the program manager that she was not going to pay me, an absurd statement. She had no control over my salary payment, since I worked for the contractor, not her.

96 Randal Joy Thompson Contracting officer representatives have no authority over payments to individuals in contractor private companies. At my wits end, I called the contracting officer’s representative supervisor, an American, who I thought would understand the absurdity of the situation. Since I had worked for the United States for 28 years and he held the same position I had held, I thought he would understand. He told me the situation sounded strange and that he would get back to me. He never did. A few weeks later I was terminated. I assume I was terminated for going above the head of the contracting officer representative. Americans almost always support their local national staff without question even when their staff are wrong. I had a very close relationship with my team and they kept in touch with me. They wrote me that the program manager and the domineering economist had a love affair that created a scandal all over the community and that she left her husband and baby boy. She reportedly became known as “the woman who abandoned her family for an expatriate guy.” Eventually, when she was named chief of party, she dumped “the expatriate guy.” He apparently cried on the shoulder of several staff who relayed to me that he was a totally distraught, broken man. I started working with another company who was collaborating with the company I worked for in this case study. Interestingly, the companies were collaborating on a joint evaluation with the program manager from the above-described project. They were on the phone with him daily and were planning to speak the next day. Instead, they received an email from his company that the program manager would not be contacting them but rather someone else. Apparently, the program manager had been summarily fired. The company I was then working for was subsequently interested in hiring the program manager because he had expertise in impact evaluations, so they interviewed him. However, they did not hire him because he announced that he would only accept the offer if he could have the position of the woman who interviewed him, my supervisor at the time. Obviously, this did not go over well. She certainly was not going to give him her position. The next day, the company I was working for received an anonymous letter from Europe advising them not to hire the program manager because his company had fired him for “sexual harassment.” I heard from my former staff on the project that the domineering economist now chief of party also suddenly left the project. I never found out why or the details of the sexual harassment charge. I must say, I was left puzzled and dazed from this entire experience. Deconstruction of Experience and Leadership Lessons This experience served as an excellent lesson for challenges in leading oneself in a temporary project organization. My weaknesses in emotional intelligence led to my leadership failure in being able to effectively maneuver in what I perceived as a hostile work environment. Individual Level By “leading oneself,” I adopt the definition offered by scholars of peace leadership Van Zyl and Campbell (2019) who argued that leading oneself “involves

Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment 97 transforming self to lead others within the community through emotional intelligence” (n.p.). Emotional intelligence as originally defined by Goleman comprises (1) self-awareness; (2) self-regulation; (3) social skills; (4) empathy; and (5) motivation. Self-awareness and self-regulation are most relevant to my situation. Goleman (2005) conceived of self-awareness as the knowledge of one’s internal states, resources, preferences, and intuitions. This awareness includes recognizing one’s emotions and their effects. He (2005) defined self-regulation as the management of one’s internal states, resources, and impulses and to be able to maintain self-control. This would include becoming aware of one’s shadow side, those negative aspects of one’s personality and character that are initially unconscious. I had never read the self-leadership literature, nor ever considered the reality that I had the responsibility to effectively lead myself before leading others. This leadership fiasco made me realize that I needed to better lead myself. I recognized that I needed heightened self-awareness, an essential aspect of emotional intelligence. I was not aware of my fear of dominating personalities until this situation, and although I could see that my fear was having a detrimental impact on me, the team, and the organization, I was not able to control it. Apparently, this fear was buried in my unconscious and was part of my shadow side. It only emerged when I was confronted by a certain personality type. As Bryant (2016) emphasized: Without self-awareness you are locked into a stimulus-response nightmare; operating from the unconscious and out of date programs and reacting to situations rather than influencing them. (n.p.) An essential aspect of self-awareness is curiosity to wonder what the other person is doing rather than to focus on our emotional response to their actions (Bryant, 2016), hence to become active rather than passive in the situation. As Bryant (2016) contended: Self-awareness, allows us to “step back” from a situation and ask, “Why am I doing this?” “What causes me to see it this way?” and “How can I think and feel differently to get different results?” (n.p.) The strong personalities of the women contracting officer representative and economist on my team caused me to freeze. Instead of explaining my point-ofview and how I could manage the project as the chief of party, I was silent. When the contracting officer representative intruded into the project and took actions that were completely beyond her legal purview, I was silent, almost cowering, instead of calmly and confidently explaining what my role was and what I perceived as her role. She was new to this role and perhaps did not understand her role, since apparently neither her American supervisor nor the American contract officer had prepared her.

98 Randal Joy Thompson Hence, I could have mentored her. In a way, she frightened me and I was in a state of constant fear and stress, something I had never felt before in my career of over 30 years. Somehow her personality brought out my deep-seated fear that had been implanted in me early in my life and made me freeze instead of speaking. She complained that I did not speak enough, but my silence stemmed from this visceral fear that emerged from somewhere deep in my psyche. I could have taken charge of the situation and established myself as the leader of my team. Instead, I allowed her to dominate me. When the company program manager had pushed me aside and served as gobetween between the contracting officer representative as well as the economist on my team, I could have talked with him and with each of them separately to ensure that communication was direct. Complaining to the program manager’s supervisor regarding the indirect communication was a serious mistake. In addition, when the contracting officer representative told the program manager that she would not pay me, I should have spoken directly to the contracting officer representative about this. Moreover, I could have gone to the US contracting officer if things got really bad, but I lived in terror and was afraid to call him. Through “self-betrayal” (Arbinger Institute, 2018), I constructed myself as victim in this situation, while I constructed the others as my victimizers. With such a construction, I pushed myself into a state of silence. I recognized that constructing myself as victim had been a pattern in life which had basically stripped me of self-power. Self-betrayal results in one’s construction of the world in selfjustifying ways, distorts reality, and causes one to “enter the box” of self-deception and inaction and places others in a box (Arbinger Institute, 2018). This leads to exaggerating one’s own virtue and the others’ faults and blame. I essentially stripped myself of power and even of words. As Arbinger Institute (2018) pointed out: But remember, when we’re in the box, we’re self-deceived – we’re blind to the truth about others and ourselves. And one of the things we’re blind to is how the box itself undercuts our every effort to obtain the outcomes we think we want. (n.p.) I recognized that I lacked self-regulation (Goleman, 2005; Noyes, 2001), as I was unable to unlock myself from my visceral response to the situation. I was unable to distance myself and reflect and change my emotional response to the difficult personalities I was dealing with and to speak and take my place as the leader of the team and the project. Had I stepped back and pulled myself together and recognized my inner turmoil, I could have changed the way I spoke and hence possibly changed from a victim to a true leader (Kegan & Lahey, 2001). Group Level Through my leadership failure, I discovered first hand that a group or team is attuned to the emotional state of the leader and depend on that emotional state to a great extent for their sense of well-being (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002).

Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment 99 These authors called the emotional task as “primal” and “the original and most important act of leadership” (n.p.). My emotional state was extremely negative because of my inability to effectively relate to the contracting officer representative and my team obviously sensed this. As Goleman et al. pointed out (2002), negative emotions negatively impact the performance of teams. Such emotions cause dissonance instead of the resonance a team need to be high performing. Instead of dissipating the negativity which the contracting officer representative brought to our team, my response of fear and frustration magnified it. Furthermore, in an inter-cultural situation when the leader is an expatriate, the team, if comprised of locals, must be loyal to local leaders, even if not their personal leaders, in order to preserve their status and their job. Hence, my team, comprised of all local nationals, ultimately needed to please the contracting officer representative to maintain their positions, as they perceived her as the one ultimately in charge. Fortunately, I had a good working relationship with the entire team, and with the economist on my team before she became involved with the program manager from home office so they supported me even though also supporting her, albeit a bit grudgingly. The team sensed my extreme discomfort with the contracting officer representative as well as my inability to effectively deal with her and this put them in a difficult position. They were loyal to me but recognized that they also needed to show loyalty to the contracting officer representative. They recognized that she was extremely difficult but they sought to deal with her in order to survive. This created for them and for me a somewhat tense situation because I recognized that they had to have split loyalties and that they could not “come over to my side” so to speak. This reality enhanced my sense of isolation. Some of them tried to play a reconciliatory role by inviting the contracting officer representative, the program manager, and me for happy hour or for lunch. In reality, we enjoyed these times together and everything seemed amicable, at least briefly. I felt that the two team members who resigned because they had experienced the chagrin and displeasure of the contracting officer representative blamed me for not protecting them as did the staff member who was fired before I arrived. The one terminated expected that I could prevent her firing and she called me where I was working in another country even before I assumed the role of chief of party and again after I arrived in country. She did not understand that I had little power to stand against the contracting officer representative who was our client or our company who was doing everything the contracting officer representative wanted in order to keep the contract. I disappointed all three staff members. I realized how important it is for a leader to manifest a clear sense of being in control of a situation, however difficult, and for a leader to maintain a calm and positive attitude for the sake of the team (Goleman et al., 2002). Organization Level The implementation framework for foreign assistance projects is complex, as described above, because there are at least three organizations involved that

100 Randal Joy Thompson need to work together to accomplish the project’s objective. These include US agency, the client; the company who won the contract; and the project temporary organization. The three organizations involved have different agendas and different purposes and audiences, which often militate against working collaboratively together (Thompson, 2016). The United States needs to ensure that contracts are well-implemented to assure the US Congress that taxpayers’ monies are being effectively spent. The US agency should monitor but not manage projects, which are implemented by private for- or not-for-profit companies. Companies that hold the contracts need to fulfill the requirements of the client, the US agency, in order to keep their contract and to improve their chances of winning contracts in the future. The United States writes a yearly evaluation that is placed in a database accessible by all US government agencies. Companies’ success depends on selecting an effective chief of party and implementation team and of supporting the team in producing work of a high quality acceptable by the client. The temporary project team works in between these two organizations and is often squeezed by them and made into a scapegoat in order to relieve the other organizations of responsibility. The chief of party generally is not a long-term employee of the contractor company but is instead on a contract that is easily broken “at will” with no reason given. Hence, the company generally has no loyalty to the chief of party and sees the chief of party as the vehicle to maintain the company’s reputation and to ensure more work. The chief of party is also held responsible by the United States and the company to ensure that the entire team completes high-quality work. Hence, my leadership failure of not pleasing the contracting officer representative obviously placed the company I worked for at risk. It was incumbent upon the company to do whatever it took to keep the contract and that meant for them to do everything the contracting officer representative wanted whether or not it what she wanted was in her purview. Hence, when the contracting officer representative was angry that I called her supervisor and wanted me gone, the company had no alternative but to terminate me, even though I was doing a good job. I became a potential “saboteur,” as Daskal (2017) titled the leaders who have the shadow of fear of failure as well as fear of success. I became a liability to the organization. Additionally, by that point the program manager was deeply involved with the economist and hence he wanted to push me aside so he could spend more time with her. My leadership failure had essentially removed any power I might have had had I taken charge of my position to resist this move. De Hahn (2016) cautioned that such a leadership failure can have a negative impact on the organization. As he explained, Failure to restrain the demons within, i.e. the leadership shadow, can result in a toxic organization and to very costly and bruising adjustments. Appreciating the benefits of certain attributes, whilst understanding when they tip into shadow side characteristics

Leadership Failure in a Hostile Environment 101 provides the key to actively managing them, reducing the risk to the organization as well as the risk of personal leadership derailment. (p. 511) Chiefs of party have the responsibility to attempt to build a collaborative leadership coalition, comprised of the chief of party, the contracting officer representative, and the company leaders, so that they are all working together toward a common goal and not working at loggerheads (Thompson, 2016). A leadership approach combined transformational adaptive system leadership, which would focus the leaders on the change process that they are all responsible for and which would build collaboration among all the leaders and their organizations (Thompson, 2016). By failing to take charge of my role as chief of party in this situation, I was unable to help create this collaborative framework and bring all the actors together. Conclusion In this chapter, I have presented my leadership failure while serving as the leader of a US foreign assistance project. I have argued that my lack of emotional intelligence and my consequent self-betrayal led me to react the way I did to a challenging situation. I was silenced by an internal fear that the personalities involved in the situation brought out in me. My reaction made me realize that I need to focus on leading myself before I can effectively lead others. The situation heightened my realization that my emotional state impacted the team and that my reactions to the personalities in the situation made the team feel insecure and increased their need to please the US contracting officer representative in order to secure their positions. I recognized how important it is for a leader to exude a sense of self-confidence, peace, and control of whatever situation in order to foster the well-being of a team or group. I recognized from my leadership failure that it is critical for a chief of party of a foreign assistance project to take the lead to attempt to unify leaders from the various organizations involved in the implementation of such projects. Leaders in the other organizations are blinded in a sense by their own objectives and the chief of party, being in-between, dealing with both, and directly responsible for achieving the project goals can help to move leaders from a sense of competition and power inequality to one of collaboration. However, this requires confronting one’s shadow side. I realized that being inspired by others’ courage can help heal the inner wounds that trap us. I thought of the Afghan women leaders who were willing to die in order to lead and their courage to speak their minds even when they endured the hourly threat of assassination (Thompson, 2015). How could I be afraid to speak up in a relatively safe situation when these Afghan women faced a tangible threat? Several of them were in fact assassinated. Reflecting on their courage has helped me to garner my own courage to speak up and take charge of myself and of my role as a leader in future situations.

102 Randal Joy Thompson References Arbinger Institute. (2018). Leadership and self-deception. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Bryant, A. (2016). Self-leadership: 12 powerful mindsets and methods to win in life and business. Singapore: Andrew Bryant. Daskal, L. (2017). The leadership gap: What gets between you and your greatness. New York, NY: Penguin Radom House. De Hahn, E. (2016). The leadership shadow: How to recognise and avoid derailment, hubris, and overdrive. Leadership, 12(4), 504–512. Goleman, D. (2005). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership: Realizing the power of emotional intelligence. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. (2001). How the way we talk can change the way we work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Noyes, R. (2001). The art of leading yourself: Tap the power of your emotional intelligence. Scotts Valley, CA: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform. Thompson, R. (2015). Dying to lead: Women leaders in Afghanistan. In S. Madsen, F. Ngunjiri, K. Longman, & C. Cherrey (Eds.), Women and leadership around the world. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers. Thompson, R. (2016). Theorizing women’s ways of knowing and leading for international development projects: The adaptive transformational system leadership model. In J. Storberg-Walker & P. Haber-Curran (Eds.), Theorizing women and leadership: New insights and contributions from multiple perspectives. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers. Thompson, R. (2018). Leadership and power in international development: Navigating gender, culture, context, and sustainability. London: Emerald Publishing. Van Zyl, E., & Campbell, A. (2019). Peace leadership: Self-transformation to peace. Randburg: KAR Publishing.

Chapter 10 Toxic Leadership: A Quick Erosion of Psychological Safety Carly Speranza Abstract This chapter explores the timeline of Lieutenant Colonel Myer’s year in military command and how the culture was significantly impacted by her reign of terror and toxic leadership (Reed, 2004). A once jovial and productive organization, quickly after Myer’s assumed command the military squadron took on an appearance of disenchantment and mistrust of authority. Eventually, due to Myer’s toxic leadership practices, organizational cohesiveness and performance eroded, and new employee groups formed in an effort to feel less vulnerable and attempt to find solidarity in numbers and neutralize Myer’s destructive leadership (Konopaske, Ivancevich, & Matteson, 2018; Milosevic, Maric, & Loncar, 2019). In the end, and after several horrific events, many groups pushed upwards, broke the chain of command, and demanded that Myers be removed from command. Keywords: Hostile work environment; psychological safety; toxic leadership; military; destructive leadership; mistrust Introduction When Colonel Hall was asked by squadron personnel, “Why did you select Lieutenant Colonel Myers as our military commander, the Colonel responded, “I wanted to change things up a bit. I didn’t expect to get Hitler.” Colonel Hall made this statement to the entire military squadron of 100-plus personnel at an emergency meeting on Monday morning explaining why Lieutenant Colonel When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, 103–111 Copyright © 2021 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-80043-766-120211010 1 Names have been changed to protect personal identities

104 Carly Speranza Myers had been removed from military command the previous week after senior leadership lost all faith and trust in her ability to lead. Prior to her departure, Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Stephanie Myers led the military squadron with a heavy hand and established a dysfunctional environment over the course of her command tenure. She often displayed hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors that increased employee anxiety, dissatisfaction, and ultimately resulted in the loss of human capital to the organization. In response to Lt Col Myers’s toxic leadership, over time and after several key personnel voluntarily left the unit, the military squadron began to turn against Lt Col Myers and attempted to neutralize her toxic effects by going outside of the chain of command to have her removed. Eventually, the squadron personnel were successful; however, not before the damage was done and Lt Col Myer’s toxic charge caused professional and personal lives to be lost. The Early Months In 2006, Lt Col Stephanie Myers was a smart, hard-working woman who was promoting quickly through the ranks in the United States Air Force. That summer she was competitively selected to take command of a highly visible Intelligence squadron that supported approximately 900 combat missions a day across the globe. On her first day, during her military change of command ceremony, she shocked everyone by exclaiming that she was increasing the duty day by at least an hour a day, and that she was not a “cheerleader” for others. During a typical military change of command ceremony, the outgoing commander makes brief remarks on their time in command, roughly two to three years, and then invites the new commander to share their leadership philosophy with the new organization that they are charged to lead. Military members listen closely to this leadership philosophy because it gives them a glimpse into how this new commander will lead the organization. Lt Col Myer’s words came as a shock and quickly set many personnel on edge. Prior to my experience with Lt Col Myers, I had exposure to roughly eight or nine different military commanders. Because military members move every two to three years, we tend to experience many kinds of leaders and learn to quickly adapt to different leadership styles. While most commanders, especially in the first few months of command, reach out to meet and get familiar with their personnel, Lt Col Myers did not do this. She walked the halls with purpose and typically did not respond when greeted by her own personnel. In fact, on one occasion I came across her in close quarters, said “good morning” and she merely glared at me and continued to walk away. I was completely taken aback. Lt Col Myers was brilliant. She had a quick mind and absorbed information at an amazing rate. She also had a confidence that resonated off of her and appeared extremely comfortable engaging with more senior leaders. In fact, when surrounded by her superiors she was affable and at ease, which was in severe contrast to how she appeared when in the company of her subordinates. Within a month or two of taking command, Lt Col Myers replaced roughly four out of five of her division chiefs. These division chiefs were her direct reports and they were who the personnel came in contact with every day. While Lt Col

Toxic Leadership: A Quick Erosion of Psychological Safety 105 Myers was the face of the squadron, she had many meetings outside of the organization that forced her division chiefs to step up and run most of the operations. However, while often away at outside meetings, Lt Col Myers would return most late afternoons to hold long, painful meetings with her division chiefs where she micromanaged and criticized most of their work. So, while the division chiefs were left in charge, they were not empowered and were often left bewildered, expecting to be chastised when Lt Col Myers returned. Erosion of Psychological Safety Within the first few months, I noticed that squadron personnel were working an average of 12 to 13 hours a day, roughly 2 to 3 hours longer than before the change of command. In addition, 1 or 2 division chiefs were working upwards of 14 to 15 hours a day just to keep up with the increasing scrutiny that Lt Col Myers inflicted on specific areas of the organization. Also, people began to argue amongst each other more often, and everyone seemed on edge. In fact, I often noticed my division chief looking strung out and as though she spent the last 30 minutes crying quietly in her office. While Lt Col Myers inflicted great scrutiny on most personnel, she had a few subordinates that she seemed to favor and treated them extremely well. One of these personnel was Master Sergeant Kline. Master Sergeant Kline was a war hero who had served honorably in Iraq prior to his current assignment. He was the senior enlisted member of the organization, and critical to Lt Col Myers’s insight to the organization’s younger personnel. He was charismatic, well liked, and Lt Col Myers treated him almost as an equal. This was surprising because Master Sergeant Kline disappeared most afternoons for quite some time, worked less hours than most, and did not appear to contribute directly to any taskings, but he did talk a good game. Lt Col Myers had a flair for berating people publicly, regardless of rank or position. In fact, on one occasion after I had briefed roughly 40 personnel on the status of operations, she held me in the room and screamed at me for roughly 5–6 minutes for something that was completely out of my control. However, after this scene I walked away laughing to myself. Had anyone else treated me like this, I would have been devastated, but this was typical of Lt Col Myers and people had unfortunately become accustomed to it. I remember exclaiming to my colleagues that she spoke to me as though I was a “dog.” Her disgust and anger emanated from her in a way that I had only witnessed once or twice in my lifetime, and never for something so trivial. While many of us talked about going outside of the organization to complain about her leadership, we were worried about the professional repercussions, and all we had were stories that seemed trivial at the moment. So, we kept pushing on, miserable, stressed, and afraid to take any risk that highlighted ourselves to Lt Col Myers. Almost five months into command, during the holiday season, Lt Col Myers’s leadership style finally began to get attention from her boss, Colonel Hall. Because of the way the organization was run, Lt Col Myers was well isolated from her senior leadership. Subsequently, senior leaders were not aware of her toxic leadership and the toll it was taking on the organization. However, Lt Col Myers’s deputy

106 Carly Speranza commander was good friends with Colonel Hall. After one specific, gruesome encounter with Lt Col Myers, the deputy commander finally went to Colonel Hall to complain. I heard through the rumor mill that she was counseled and told to change her behavior, but there was no evidence that this counseling occurred, and she appeared as toxic as ever. Finally, a month or two after the holidays, her leadership began to show wear on the organization. While military members have limited freedom to leave a location when they choose to, civilians who work in the Department of Defense have complete freedom to quit at any time. The squadron had a heavy civilian population, roughly 25%, and these civilians began to complain about the work environment to the extent that two quit after the holidays and cited to senior leadership that it was because of the toxic work environment created by Lt Col Myers. To add fuel to the fire, the civilians that resigned were effective, well thought of personnel who were critical to operations. Along with civilians leaving the organization, military personnel began to request to deploy outside of their required deployment timelines. In fact, several had recently returned from the Middle East, but were asking to go back to get out of the work environment. One individual had even requested to get permission to head to Iraq for a year, commonly known as a 3-65; however, Lt Col Myers would not approve their departure. In fact, she would not approve of anyone departing the organization for any type of professional exchange or development opportunity, something that is common in the military. Finally, after Colonel Hall had received several complaints about Lt Col Myers and noticed a loss of personnel and morale, he brought in an Air Force agency to complete a unit climate survey. This is something generally done after a Commander’s first year of command; however, Colonel Hall brought in the agency roughly five months early due to rising complaints. A unit climate survey can take a few weeks to complete. It consists of both an on-line survey completed by personnel, and random, in-person interviews across the organization in effort to get the best picture possible of how the organization is functioning. To launch the unit climate survey, Colonel Hall gathered our unit and briefed us on the survey and events that would take place. Lt Col Myers was in attendance, however, was not given an opportunity to speak. Colonel Hall made a point to tell everyone that he wanted to hear the truth about how people felt, that the survey was anonymous, and that he would do everything possible to correct any unit deficiencies or issues brought forth during the unit assessment. The results of the climate survey came out a few months afterwards and the results pointed blatantly to Lt Col Myers’s toxic leadership and the organizational culture that was struggling under the weight of her command. In fact, people banded together during the survey to make certain their voices were heard and that senior leadership was apprised of the ongoing issues. While I’m certain that Colonel Hall counseled her based on the findings, he surprisingly did not remove her from command. However, a new, temporary deputy was put in place for a few months to help smooth the waters a bit.

Toxic Leadership: A Quick Erosion of Psychological Safety 107 The Last Week: Devastation Fast-forward a few months… Things remained pretty much the same; however, the temporary deputy to Lt Col Myers did provide a bit more stability and an avenue that personnel could count on to soften the blows from Lt Col Myers. The deputy knew Lt Col Myers from previous assignments, and she was attuned to her nuances and pet peeves. She would often counsel people on when they should schedule appointments and meetings to ensure that Lt Col Myers was not in one of her “moods” and was less likely to lash out. While the deputy was working well, she was only temporary (she was a military reservist) and was going off of orders soon and would leave the squadron. She had done great work over several months and Lt Col Myers decided that she wanted to throw a farewell party at her house for her deputy and the senior members of the squadron. As I was a senior member of the squadron, I was invited to attend the farewell party. The party was on a Friday evening and began as most parties do… people arrived, talked and enjoyed themselves. Lt Col Myers was serving quite a bit of alcohol at the party and shortly after the formal goodbyes were made to the deputy, I decided to head home. However, just before heading home Master Sergeant Kline made an inappropriate sexual comment to me as I was walking out the door. I honestly don’t quite remember my reaction; however, when I returned home I told my husband about the incident. As I was an officer and Master Sergeant Kline was enlisted, it was against the uniform code of military justice for him to act inappropriately. Monday morning, shortly after I arrived at work, everyone was called into an emergency meeting. It turns out that the party continued for quite some time after my departure. Sometime after 11 p.m. Friday evening, Master Sergeant Kline left Lt Col Myers’ party on his motorcycle, wrecked nearby, and broke his neck. He was drinking heavily and under the influence when this occurred. After the news, the squadron was sent into a tailspin. A military investigation was launched and lawyers were called in to offer Lt Col Myers legal counsel in case she had to bring charges against Master Sergeant Kline because of drunk driving. At the same time, Lt Col Myers began her own investigation and tried to control the narrative of the evening. Within 24 hours, Colonel Hall ordered her to stop interfering with the investigation and to allow the military investigator to do their job. However, she could not help herself and disobeyed orders by secretly meeting with subordinates and threatening them to keep quiet and bring her information; in fact, I was one of those subordinates. On Friday afternoon after most personnel had left for the weekend, one week after the party, Lt Col Myers was fired from command. Her toxic leadership coupled with her immoral actions to control the investigation were discovered and senior leadership lost trust in her ability to command the squadron. Later that evening, around 11 p.m., a young enlisted man in our squadron, Staff Sergeant Shawn Cole, committed suicide and shot himself in front of his wife and child. While Staff Sergeant Cole’s suicide cannot be tied directly to Lt Col Myers, military studies have found that suicidal behavior can be triggered by a toxic work environment (Zwerdling, 2014).

108 Carly Speranza Three days later, on Monday morning, Col Hall gathered everyone together and announced Staff Sergeant Cole’s passing. Then, a moment later, he announced a new commander to replace Lt Col Myers, Lt Col Barrios. Within a week, we had a memorial service for Staff Sergeant Cole where the squadron grieved for a young life needlessly lost. Then, immediately afterwards, Lt Col Barrios began to slowly resuscitate and rebuild the squadron. The Aftermath It took several months for the investigation of Master Sergeant Kline’s drunk driving accident to conclude. In the end, personnel came forward with information about Master Sergeant Kline, that apparently Lt Col Myers was aware of but hid from everyone to protect him. Master Sergeant Kline recovered from his broken neck; however, he was found guilty of adultery on multiple fronts in military court, including with subordinates’ wives, and was eventually dishonorably discharged from the Air Force. To this day, many of us still believe that Lt Col Myers and Master Sergeant Kline, both of whom were married, were romantically involved. In the end, Lt Col Myers was forced into a staff job where she did not lead anyone and quickly retired from the Air Force and moved on to other civilian job opportunities Leadership Lessons While Lt Col Myers was a smart and capable woman, she displayed several symptoms of moral exclusion to include double standards, condescension and derogation, and fear of contamination (Johnson, 2018). Over the course of a year, due to Lieutenant Myer’s abuse of positional power and use of coercion (Northouse, 2019), the organization experienced high levels of stress which led to increased absenteeism and a large increase in employee misbehavior to include: adultery, alcoholism, drunk driving, lying, and manipulation (Hackett, 1989; Kickul, 2009). Reed (2004) stated that there are three elements present in a toxic leader: 1. “An apparent lack of concern for the well-being of subordinates. 2. A personality of interpersonal technique that negatively affects organizational climate. 3. A conviction by subordinates that the leader is motivated primarily by self-interest.” (p. 67) Lt Col Myers displayed each of these elements throughout her leadership tenure. For the Individual Personally, being led by Lt Col Myers was stressful, difficult, and downright horrid. After experiencing her leadership, I promised myself to never dehumanize another human being and ensure that my personnel feel cared for and that they

Toxic Leadership: A Quick Erosion of Psychological Safety 109 have someone in their corner, looking out for them. Since working for her, I have used her as an example of “what not to do” on more occasions than I can count. In fact, I experienced Lt Col Myer’s leadership before I began my doctoral journey in leadership studies. As such, at the time I knew what she was doing was wrong, but I did not have the vocabulary or theoretical knowledge to identify exactly how or why she was failing. It was not until I was in a doctoral class on Ethical Leadership that I was exposed to Craig Johnson’s textbook Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow that I began to identify several of his concepts within Lt Col Myers. As mentioned previously, Lt Col Myers created an environment based on moral exclusion (Johnson, 2018). First, she imposed double standards by treating a few personnel as “special” and treating everyone else as outsiders. Subsequently, I have learned firsthand that fairness and consistency are critical to ensure morale remains high in an organization. Second, she often regarded those who were not “special” with distain and condescension, and often displayed hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors that found by Tepper (2000) often increases employee anxiety and dissatisfaction. This was not something that I needed to learn not to do; however, I have used her actions in my classrooms to explain to students how hurtful personal attacks can be on employee morale and overall organizational health. Bottomline, it is NEVER OK for a superior, or anyone else for that matter, to personally attack or talk down to a fellow employee. For Groups A once jovial and productive organization, shortly after Lt Col Myers arrived, the squadron took on an appearance of disenchantment and mistrust of authority. It was quite shocking to see how quickly the high-performance culture eroded into one of fear and survival. In fact, the psychological safety of the organization first began to erode during Lt Col Myers’s change of command ceremony where she was uninviting and appeared cold and distant. Then, later in the hallways, she failed to respect her subordinates and would not even make eye contact. Consequently, she appeared more of an adversary and immediately distanced herself from those under her command, actions that do not lead to high-performing teams (Delizonna, 2017). Looking back, it is amazing the damage that Lt Col Myers was able to do in such a short period of time. Within a month, people were beginning to show signs of stress and exhibiting irritation with others around them. Additionally, the micromanagement that she imposed on her subordinate division chiefs nearly paralyzed their ability to do their work and provide timely decisions. Moreover, the squadron stopped being innovative as creativity and individual thought were frowned upon unless it was supported by Lt Col Myers. Consequently, meetings that often took only one hour extended easily to two or three hours as personnel struggled to find solutions that Lt Col Myers would not tear apart. A once high-performing group was forced into a corner because their leader did not trust or empower them. For groups to perform at their peak, they must be empowered, trusted, and free to take calculated risks without fear of punishment (Moussa, Boyer, & Newberry, 2016).

110 Carly Speranza As a result, over time the military squadron began to turn against Lt Col Myers and attempted to neutralize her toxic effects by going outside of the chain of command to have her removed. Additionally, the squadron banded together to provide consistent negative feedback against Lt Col Myers during the unit climate survey. The squadron’s reaction aligns perfectly with Milosevic, Maric, and Loncar’s (2019) findings that in order for followers to defeat a toxic boss they will begin to unfollow their boss and actively work to neutralize their influence. I wholly believe that if Lt Col Myers was not removed, the squadron would have ramped up their campaign to undermine her toxicity and save the organization. For Organizations Over a period of a few months, Lt Col Myers’ lack of care for her personnel and relentless pursuit to control all actions and information, quickly stripped her subordinates of any influence and power. Gabbaro (2007) refers to the first several months of a new leader as the “taking hold” stage. This is often the period where a new leader begins to shape expectations, goals, and often some elements of the organizational culture. It didn’t take long for personnel to realize that Lt Col Myer’s early entry into the job was not a “blip” in her leadership, but instead, the first several months were merely an introduction to her toxic leadership and it continued on as the year progressed. I believe that Lt Col Myer’s toxic leadership harmed the organization most through the loss of its human capital. This was accomplished through employees who sought new jobs elsewhere, employees who decided to separate from the military entirely, and of course those who tragically took their life. When people no longer feel safe, they will find a way back to safety as best as they can. Unfortunately, Lt Col Myers managed to gut the organization of personnel, and then even those who stayed were shut down to creativity and innovation. While the mission of the organization never truly “failed,” it did not thrive during this period and looking back I am astonished at the amount of damage that one “toxic” leader could levy onto a community. To this point, Porath and Pearson (2009) reported that toxic colleagues have been found to cause a 48% decrease in work effort, 38% decrease in work quality, and 78% decline in commitment to an organization. Due to the damage that toxic leadership can cause an organization, it is critical that leaders are trained to recognize what Pelletier (2010) describes as toxic behaviors so that they can recognize early if they are approaching the “toxic cliff.” Along the same lines, Kellerman (2004) explains that the “bad side” of leadership is one reason that leadership education has grown because people can be educated to recognize bad behaviors. Because of this, it is imperative that organizations continue to support the education and training of their leaders to ensure the mental health and well-being of their most important people: their employees. Conclusion While Lt Col Myers’s toxic leadership episode took a large toll on professional and personal lives, it serves as an important reminder to individuals, groups, and

Toxic Leadership: A Quick Erosion of Psychological Safety 111 organizations, that toxic leadership does indeed exist and should not be tolerated (Konopaske et al., 2018). For this reason, it is important that toxic leadership be recognized, and that toxic behavior be eradicated from organizations as quickly as possible. Moreover, leadership education and training must continue to be provided to organizational leaders throughout their careers to ensure that organizations and their personnel can flourish through healthy organizational environments and remain creative and innovative without the pall of fear and anxiety. References Delizonna, L. (2017, August 24). High-performing teams need psychological safety. Here’s how to create it. hbr.org. Gabbaro, J. J. (1985). When a new manager takes charge. Harvard Business Review, 63(3), 110–123. Hackett, R. D. (1989). Work attitudes and employee absenteeism: A synthesis of literature. Journal of Psychology, 62, 235–248. Johnson, C. (2018). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Kellerman, B. (2004). Bad leadership: What it is, how it happens, why it matters. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kickul, J. (2009). When organizations break their promises: Employee reactions to unfair processes and treatment. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(4), 289–307. Konopaske, R., Ivancevich, J. M., & Matteson, M. T. (2018). Organizational behavior & management (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Milosevic, I., Maric, S., & Loncar, D. (2019). Defeating the toxic boss: The nature of toxic leadership and the role of followers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 27(2), 117–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819833374 Moussa, M., Boyer, M., & Newberry, D. (2016). Committed teams: Three steps to inspiring passion and performance. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Pelletier, K. (2010). Leader toxicity: An empirical investigation of toxic behavior and rhetoric. Leadership, 6(4), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715010379308 Porath, C., & Pearson, C. (2009, April). How toxic colleagues corrode performance. Harvard Business Review 87(4), 24. Reed, G. E. (2004, July–August). Toxic leadership. Military Review, 67–71. Tepper, B. J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178–190. Zwerdling, D. (2014, January 6). Army takes on its own toxic leadership. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2014/01/06/259422776/army-takes-on-its-own-toxic-leaders

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Chapter 11 A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: How a Narcissistic Leader Decimated a Faith-Based Nonprofit Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski Abstract A faith-based international nonprofit and its newly hired, narcissistic CEO are examined in this chapter. The CEO made up his own rules acting contrary to many leadership, financial, and HR practices, as well as ignoring the law. As difficulties mounted, there was little to no outcry. Until his abrupt departure seven years later, the CEO operated with impunity. The authors analyze the CEO’s tenure through four lenses – the leader, the followers, the environment, and their faith perspective. As a narcissist, the CEO quickly created a toxic environment and stayed one step ahead of everyone else. Employees were most often compliant and the few who were not found themselves stripped of their position as an example to the onlookers. With the Board in transition, there were no checks and balances and, coupled with a perception of instability, the environment was advantageous for a narcissist. Each of these three lenses was influenced by the faith system which the organization and its employees espoused. Faithbased compliance and organizational silence created an open door for the narcissistic leader and resulted in great damage individually and collectively. The authors offer lessons for individuals, groups, and organizations working under a narcissist. Keywords: Board of directors; followers; gender discrimination; narcissism; organizational silence; toxic triangle When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, 113–125 Copyright © 2021 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-80043-766-120211011

114 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski Introduction1 In response to Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser’s (2007) call to examine destructive leadership in religious contexts, we present a case study of a faith-based nonprofit where a Narcissist Leader (NL) was appointed as CEO. In his seven-year term, staff decreased by over 30% and program revenue decreased by over 40%. We describe and analyze the events using Padilla et al.’s “toxic triangle” (p. 176), and we offer implications for practice. The faith-based nonprofit in question was founded on a fairly literal interpretation of the Bible with a focus on training and evangelism. Historically, leadership was selected from within the organization, giving precedence to low power distance and emphasizing strong relationships. Overt conflict was rare, with resolution occurring quietly and in private. Employees were unskilled in conflict management and so often did not speak up, resulting in organizational silence, where significant problems were unaddressed. In this situation, silence was due to precedent and religious beliefs. Religious organizations may be particularly susceptible to NLs (Ball & Puls, 2015). Such organizations value compliance which provides opportunity for abuse. Narcissists are drawn to compliant people, especially if such a group is willing to pay a salary. Ball and Puls (2015) found one in three pastors of one denomination to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Narcissism is defined as a deep need for admiration and positive attention, an excessive sense of one’s importance, and a notable lack of empathy (Gebauer, Sedikides, Verplanken, & Maio, 2012). Within an organization, a narcissist is unable to accept and accurately apply free flowing social feedback, responds selectively and positively to agreement and support, and reacts harshly and punitively to criticism and differences of opinion. In this manner, and by virtue of their position, narcissistic leaders tend to create a milieu in which they only receive positive feedback. Recruitment Issues: The Perfect Storm This faith-based international nonprofit needed a new CEO when the incumbent gave a one-year notice. At 60 years of age, the organization had about 450 employees in more than 25 countries. The Board of Directors quickly commenced the recruitment process. A poorly vetted consultant. With little experience in executive hiring, the Board engaged a faith-based consultant to assist in the search process. Apparently his track record was not examined and he appeared to operate without much supervision. The consultant began the process with one candidate in mind, Devon, referencing him in glowing terms from the outset. A Board of Directors in transition. Concurrently, the Board had completed two steps in the process of transitioning to a policy governance model. Without 1 All names used in the case are pseudonyms.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 115 the remaining step of establishing measurable organizational goals there was no process to assess the organization, its leader, or the Board against defined goals. Moreover, there was no code of ethics or whistle blower policy. As the Search Committee was constituted, the Governance Committee, responsible for the transition to policy governance, was suspended. One year after Devon’s appointment the Governance Committee remained suspended and with no defined process to evaluate Devon. In a final mis-step, Devon’s credentials were not adequately scrutinized. Later it was learned that Devon’s representation of previous accomplishments was not congruent with narratives of former colleagues. However, Devon had a top-notch academic record and knew how to woo those around him; thus, his self-reports were persuasive. In events resembling a perfect storm, the Search Committee, the Board, and their recruiter were captivated by Devon’s charisma and personality. Believing his self-promoting narrative, impressed by his work history, and overly reliant on the recruiter, the Board appointed Devon as CEO. The Trajectory of Devon’s Governance Devon’s start date included a three month overlap to provide time to “learn the ropes.” It was reported that Devon never approached the outgoing CEO, instead working alone. Initial Romance of Leadership At the subsequent organizational convention, Devon was formally introduced and received many high marks. He seemed visionary, charismatic, outgoing, and outspoken. He publicly flattered and praised existing leaders, spent time with individuals, and outlined impressive goals to expand the organization’s work. Devon seemed generous: as he talked about books he liked, he offered to buy them for others, and he treated the entire organization to ice cream, with his assistant quietly wondering about finances. For the careful observer, however, cracks were already evident. Devon publicly compared himself to an example in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, describing his innate intuition. Employees who read the book, compliments of Devon, learned that intuition was not innate but developed through experience, knowledge, and training. Changing organizational direction. In an initial address, Devon outlined significant shifts in organizational focus and strategy. He envisioned creating new, independent work among minorities. New ideas and works were generally valued, yet many employees voiced consternation at abandoning well-established partnerships. Yet Devon was adamant, repeatedly emphasizing that anyone not joining him would be left behind. It became increasingly clear: his way was the only way. During another address, as Devon provided additional details for future plans, he suggested changing the mission and vision statements, a Board responsibility. Everyone was caught off guard as Devon proposed immediate alterations and, following a slight pause, continued as if the changes were official.

116 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski Conforming to the new statements, Devon hired a so-called expert to train employees in new methods. The expert had never lived internationally and their purported successes were not found to be sustainable. Worse, in training sessions, the expert spoke of a geographical phenomenon which was blatantly fabricated. Consistent with organizational silence, there was no pushback. Devon referenced the concept, demonstrating his support and bolstering his status. Flattening the organization. From the outset, Devon contended that the organization was excessively hierarchical. In reality, the organization had four levels with one decision-making body, the Region-Wide Team (RWT). The structure was scarcely as hierarchical as Devon maintained and most found that it worked well. During an initial tour of some worksites, Devon promoted flattening the organization and, in an egregious move, referred to a senior director as “that fat person.” Such language was not acceptable, yet his harassment was tacitly tolerated. In his first two months, Devon eliminated the positions directly below him, thus moving toward his goal of consolidating power. In removing these influential senior leaders, Devon simultaneously appropriated their power and removed those most able to resist his maneuvers. Faltering Romance Cracks in the facade became more apparent as Devon consolidated power by sidelining dissenters, reducing the RWT to a rubber stamp council, manipulating the board, and repeatedly changing increasingly expansive organizational goals. The combination of lofty organizational goals, staff desires for accomplishment, and narcissistic traits created the ideal conditions for a NL to flourish (Kellerman, 2004). Removing all critique. After removing the highest level of leadership, Devon began replacing RWT members with passive followers, thus repurposing the RWT to a personal advisory team. Sally, an RWT member, shared her opinions even when disagreeing with Devon. Soon, each time she spoke, Devon bullied her by saying, “Oh, it’s Sally again.” Sally was initially told that her appointment to the RWT occurred because having only one female on the RWT didn’t look good. But her experience in top leadership levels was commensurate with the role. Soon after she critiqued one of Devon’s moves, she learned that her responsibilities had changed and she was now a “co-leader” with another man. Effectively she was sidelined: the man received all communications and attended all leadership meetings. Next, Patty was added without specific responsibilities, or the requisite personal or professional experience. This move was viewed with curiosity until Patty’s husband related voicing some critical comments in Devon’s presence. When Patty heard of it, she was aghast, compelling her husband to apologize. Seemingly, Devon perceived her as an uncritical supporter, the only leadership credential needed.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 117 Fundamentally, Devon’s perception of being challenged was the litmus test for dismissal, and women seemed particularly vulnerable. Another woman, also an RWT member, disagreed with the abrupt ousting of a department leader and was herself abruptly dismissed. Roberta, who led a women’s ministry, attempted to talk with Devon but was told Devon’s wife would handle women’s issues. Later Roberta asked to be included on the RWT since women constituted two-thirds of the organization. Devon refused, but claimed publicly that she had declined his invitation to join the RWT. Simon, Roberta’s husband and RWT member, attempted to correct the false narrative. Eventually it became clear that Devon expected Simon’s loyalty despite lies regarding Roberta; Simon eventually resigned from the RWT. Later Roberta was moved to a leadership role in Professional Development (PD), and again questioned one of Devon’s decisions. Subsequently two RWT members, at Devon’s behest, informed the PD team that funding had been withdrawn, ostensibly due to misalignment between training sessions and Devon’s new mission statement. Roberta clarified that no training had occurred since the mission statement’s revision and it would be incorporated in future training. One RWT member conceded this point; notwithstanding, Devon’s wishes were implemented, leading to the demise of the department. The arbitrary confiscation of grant funds PD had received was not admissible financial practice. Men who joined the RWT also learned that the slightest opposition was problematic. Some leaders readily became acquiescent followers, agreeing even when things were illogical, as on the PD call. Those pressing for other perspectives were ousted from the RWT or they resigned when they understood Devon’s lack of tolerance for independent thought. Devon’s cyclical pattern of relating to employees was to promote a person as an ideal employee until they displeased him for whatever reason. Then Devon would reverse course and apply pressure until they resigned. For example, RWT member David worked in a specialized field in which Devon was interested. Devon told David that he could issue the invitations for a conference about his specialty and David clearly said he did not want to include Devon’s so-called expert due to a divergence in approach. Devon overruled and the expert attended. Now, David was in Devon’s crosshairs. Peter, David’s supervisor and an RWT member, had always given him excellent reviews. Peter scheduled a meeting with David and Devon but refused to divulge its purpose. Charlie, another RWT member who two days prior had given David his full trust, also attended. Devon began asking about David’s work and David described the positive expansion. Devon then began a litany of David’s supposed poor performance. When he finished, Devon demanded that Charlie and Peter support him, which they did, though their accusations had not been voiced previously. In conclusion, David’s title was removed. Months later, Devon wrote to David’s subordinates, removing David as leader and appropriating the role. One of David’s employees, shocked, forwarded the email to David. Devon’s stated rationale was that David needed to work in his area of specialty. Devon also promised to find a suitable position, but he never did.

118 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski Manipulating the Board of Directors. David’s growing work had interested Carl, a Board member. Carl offered David guidance and support, traveling with David and telling others of David’s significant role. When Devon learned of the growing relationship, he invited Carl on a trip. At the following convention, Carl attended for a few days but refused to meet with David. After his departure, Carl’s new role as Chairman of the Board was announced. Carl’s contact with David abruptly stopped. Two days later David had the fateful meeting with Devon, Peter, and Charlie. Another Board member met privately with David and described Devon as a liar to explain his own resignation from the Board. In flattening the organization, Devon made himself the only direct channel of communication between the Board and the organization. Employees later learned that Devon told success stories to the Board while employees discussed the lack of progress on many fronts. Shifting organizational goals. Devon created new, loftier organizational goals about every six months. At one point, Devon announced the founding of two new churches, yet subsequent information indicated each had met only once. Still, Devon embraced them as successes aligned with organizational goals. Privately, Carl remarked that calling these gatherings “churches” diminished the organization. Contrary to standard practice, metrics focused on processes, not outcomes. When it was obvious that current goals were unattainable within their timeframe, Devon rallied the troops by arousing excitement with new goals and timeframes. The pattern became cyclical. As leaders recognized the organizational upheaval, some decided to keep their heads down and act as a buffer for their subordinates. Others left. Devon’s dictatorial style and treatment of personnel was the antithesis of the traditional organizational leadership style and unmistakably counter to their faith practice. Final Destruction of the Romance After seven years, Devon abruptly resigned, leaving the organization with many scars. Personnel decreased by approximately 30%; program services income dropped over 40%. Nontangible scars were deep. Brain drain was significant as many leaders resigned and new personnel were inexperienced. Once a tight-knit organization, many felt deeply the loss of close friends and colleagues. Throughout, the Board never established evaluative goals. Despite private consternation, collectively the Board continued to support Devon’s unrealistic goals and, at times, illegal treatment of employees. Board voice and power were lost with a lack of governance. Devon’s sole focus on his pet projects, mining other budgets and grants for funding, and the cyclical pattern of goals and personnel damaged the entire organization. Some long-term projects and relationships were ignored, while others received less funding. Broken promises resulted in a decrease of trust with long-term partners and the loss of new partnerships. Analysis of the Toxic Triangle and the Faith Component Various scholars have investigated bad leadership. Using Systems Theory, Padilla et al. (2007) offer the best explanation for the events presented here.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 119 They described destructive leadership as the confluence of “destructive leaders,” “susceptible followers,” and a “conducive environment.” While Devon displayed many traits of a destructive leader, he did not operate in a vacuum; the faith-based organization enabled and abetted his behavior. Ministries may appeal to narcissists as they provide ready followers (Ball & Puls, 2015). For many of the dysfunctions described by Padilla et al., there is a faithbased corollary pushed upon adherents by naive leaders or those with ulterior motives. In this section, we discuss each side of Padilla et al.’s (2007) triangle and analyze its interaction with faith-based organizations (Fig. 1). Destructive Leader Padilla et al.’s (2007) first side of the triangle is destructive leaders. Qualities they describe in such leaders include desire for power, charisma, and narcissism. Devon was a prime example. As a destructive leader, Devon knew well the trappings of faith important to those in the faith community. He knew the spiritual vocabulary, could discuss theology and quote the Bible, and was outwardly friendly. These helped him appear as an egalitarian leader, viewed as a Servant Leader. These outward-facing characteristics were interpreted as spiritual qualities – a high value in the context. Fig. 1. The Toxic Triangle and Its Constituent Parts. Reprinted from Padilla et al. (2007, p. 180) with permission from Elsevier.

120 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski However, Devon’s actions demonstrated that these were not core values. He denigrated people, as in his “fat person” comment. He was consumed by power, pulling it to himself through flattening the organization and unilateral decisionmaking, as in changing the mission and vision statements. His process with David and others isolated them while he tried to create an egalitarian and friendly atmosphere with others. From his position of power, he undercut other opinions, such as his bullying of Sally. He was as dismissive of women as he was of men who voiced any critique whatsoever. Women on the RWT were merely tokens, not taken seriously as leaders. Keeping women segregated from men and reducing their influence is a way of defining who belongs to the faith community (Sowinska, 2007). Viewing women as supporters of male authority rather than leaders is a common, sexist attitude (Dzubinski, 2016). Devon capitalized on both premises, adding and removing women from leadership roles based on their apparent deference to him. Multiple best practices and some laws were ignored and there was no true concern for those he stepped on. Devon was focused on maintaining and polishing his image. The smallest critique could result in dismissal. Those whose success or capacity could potentially diminish his image were removed from their work. Susceptible Followers Padilla et al.’s (2007) second side of the toxic triangle is “susceptible followers” divided into “conformers” meaning unquestioning followers, and “colluders” who follow for personal gain (p. 180). Followers attempting to blend in do so out of “unmet basic needs, negative self-evaluations, and psychological immaturity” while colluders are “ambitious, selfish and share the destructive leader’s world views” (Padilla et al., 2007, p. 183). Many, if not most, of the employees appeared to be conformers rather than colluders. Keeping their role was necessary for emotional and psychological reasons. While expatriate employees (90+% of staff) commonly learn to fulfill their physiological and safety needs, belonging needs, such as social support, are frequently unmet (Navara & James, 2002). Relatively few expatriates are fully incorporated into the national culture. Thus, most are relegated to “otherness,” living outside of the mainstream and viewing other expatriates as an ethnic enclave or substitute family (Cohen, 1977). This important function of inclusion was manipulated by Devon as he told others to join or be left behind, and isolating those who displeased him. Psychological aspects of intercultural adjustment are related to one’s faith (Hall, Edwards, & Hall, 2006). Employees’ dichotomistic view of faith membership made it difficult for them to fully embrace those of different faith persuasions (i.e., 95% of their communities). Shared cultural and spiritual heritage within the organization often met belonging needs. For some, the annual convention was a social highlight. Additionally, maintaining group membership was highly valued. These views were normalized by comparison with similar faith-based nonprofits, although if viewed in isolation their problematic nature becomes clear.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 121 Self-esteem needs are often unmet in faith communities, because the repetitive assertion of sinfulness outweighs the equally true statement of forgiveness. Devon’s expert imposed a program which suited a few who aligned with Devon’s quick-change plans. Most employees preferred the previous structure’s pursuit of long-term partnerships, thus never meeting the ever-changing goals. Blame was turned inwards leaving self-esteem needs unfulfilled. People with an external locus of control are more likely to yield to a powerful leader who will guide them (Padilla et al., 2007). Within this faith community, the will of God served as a beacon: following God’s will clearly implied they were not in complete control. Yet, rule-followers are capable of aberrant behavior. David experienced this when Peter and Charlie blindly obeyed. Devon’s assistant sought funds from unrelated budgets and used restricted funds improperly. Padilla et al. (2007) summarized that “psychological maturity is needed to oppose destructive leadership” (p. 184). The few who stood up to Devon swiftly became personae non gratae. Compounding the situation were faith teachings of compliance and high power distance, emphasized to the exclusion of other concepts in the Bible. In fall 2019, one of the authors listened to a pastor explain that when followers submitted to a leader (even one that made them cringe) they were obeying God. According to that pastor, anyone failing to submit was offending God, as whatever a leader does (right or wrong) is between them and God. In this view, a leader is accountable to no-one and confronting them constitutes rebellion. This interpretation disregards justice and fairness in the Bible by requiring all to follow, apparently blindly. Although many faith heroes throughout Christian history resisted unjust leadership, this conformance mindset provides no encouragement to emulate them. Colluders (Padilla et al., 2007) join the destructive leader in questionable behavior as there is potential to benefit personally. Peter and Charlie were not alone in negating publicly espoused values to comply with Devon’s requests. Having acquiesced once they were called upon multiple times. The RWT members who closed PD while knowing that their rationale was invalid also acted as colluders, apparently in order to preserve their positions. In this nonprofit, the large majority of people were compliant which was, to some extent, an outworking of the theology they were taught. Colluders were relatively rare, but unsurprisingly, clustered in leadership positions. Conducive Environment The third requirement necessary for destructive leadership to occur is an appropriate environment. Padilla et al. (2007) proposed four environmental factors facilitating destructive leadership: “instability, perceived threat, cultural values, and absence of checks and balances” (p. 185). Instability. An organization already unstable from previous leadership became precarious with Devon’s precipitous moves changing foundational statements and flattening the organization. Additionally, Devon verbally created a perception of instability by declaring the organization had no leadership potential, thus justifying fast and bold steps taken without consultation. Furthermore, by staying one

122 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski step ahead of everyone else Devon was able to proceed unilaterally, leaving others unsure about the next step. Perceived threat. Devon created a number of alternative narratives within the organization, creating a sense of deficiency: the organization was too hierarchical, without leadership potential or vision. Whereas there were no overt statements regarding perceived threats, the perception of serious instability could have been viewed as threatening. Cultural values. Faith-based groups with strong Calvinistic tendencies are focused on in-groups and out-groups. Specific parameters delineating the boundaries of belonging may have little to do with belief, such as dress in the Amish community. Similarly, this nonprofit had prescribed behaviors; violations such as financial mismanagement, and ethical or moral transgression could result in dismissal. As the leader, Devon saw himself – and to a degree was treated as – above these behavioral guidelines. Had he been an employee, his behavior, if scrutinized, would have resulted in dismissal. However, Devon continued to act with impunity. Absence of checks and balances. Organizations without checks and balances have no established mechanism to correct a power grab so are prone to abuse (Padilla et al., 2007). Devon happened upon a changing Board structure without measures to evaluate his performance. In conversation, Board members initially indicated little impetus to confront Devon. Although agreeing with analyses demonstrating Devon’s harm to the organization, some Board members remained silent in Board meetings, thus breaching their Board responsibilities. Organizational silence, originally due to faith beliefs but later compounded with safety issues, was a key factor in Devon’s success. There were isolated protests which Devon eliminated effectively and swiftly as a lesson to others. Fear was also a key factor (Morrison & Milliken, 2000) with Devon’s fragile self-image and fear of negative feedback. Employees were afraid of being shamed in front of others or removed from their positions. Compliance was also rooted in fear of repercussions for actions such as breaking group norms by speaking out or standing up to leadership. The hiring of high-level leaders from outside the organization also reinforced this silence (Morrison & Milliken, 2000). Another strong force was the organization’s conception of faith and how it bolstered this destructive leader. Actions were given a spiritual overlay and subdued many well-meaning adherents. Work discussions were treated as gossip and constructive criticism was labeled insubordination. In the organization’s environment, even the slightest deviation could be viewed suspiciously. In a workshop, one employee told his small group he believed the expert spied on people to determine allegiance to Devon. Lessons Learned Organizational Lessons Organizations need to have, and adhere to, a clear and strong form of governance. Narcissists often resist accountability through overriding or charming others; standing firm in prescribed processes is essential.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 123 Boards must act quickly as situations degenerate. Without public Board communication people created their own narrative. Some surmised that the Board resisted the changing of foundational statements; however, many believed the Board had capitulated. Organizations need to have, and practice, mechanisms to evaluate the CEO. Board members should have organizational health as their top priority, and not their personal image. Some Board members were conflicted, not wanting to speak negatively about Devon in front of Board members who they felt were more powerful or popular. Executive recruiters must be thoroughly vetted prior to hiring. The Board or Search Committee should monitor the process and potential candidates. Every organization must have a whistleblower policy or confidential complaint mechanism. Most employees had no safe process by which to voice their concerns. The head of Human Resources has a key role in maintaining the integrity of the organization. This individual should be capable of standing firm for legal realities. Similarly, the CFO should forcefully counter any attempt to bypass sound financial practice. Should the CEO persist in sidestepping accepted financial process, the CFO should report it to the Board – otherwise they remain personally liable. When a CEO becomes the only link between the Board and employees, the Board should seek other sources of information. Many organizations are wary of hiring narcissists; however, they should also be wary of employing many rule-followers or complacent individuals. Despite all efforts an organization could hire a covert narcissist, often not easily identified, and a preponderance of compliant personalities provides a conducive environment for destructive leadership. Faith-based organizations need to understand and structurally avoid the power plays which some have couched in religious terms. An initial step would be a significant study and analysis of power structures and faith. Group Lessons Groups should understand that meeting without the leader present is commonplace. Conversation about work does not necessarily constitute gossip. This is particularly important for faith-based groups. Voicing opinions and critiques should not result in being removed from one’s position. Group members observing such behavior should be on the alert. Leaders complying with the destructive leader may encounter resistance from their subordinates. The number of people following a NL is not indicative of the quality of the leader, but rather the internal needs of the followers. Faith-based organizations expect that leadership will be truthful. Narcissists use alternative narratives in order to achieve their ends. Do not be surprised if a NL looks straight at you and blatantly lies. Triangulate information with others to determine the truth. Power is amassed by NLs through information flow – they amass information and parcel it out piecemeal depending on the hearer. Spread information laterally,

124 Ruth Beck and Leanne Dzubinski copy others on your emails – increasing everyone’s information blunts this type of manipulation. Narcissists may try to control the narrative by endless talking, whether it be in a Q&A session or a lunch break. It is not unspiritual to interrupt. There is strength in groups – do not meet alone with a NL. With others in the room, there is corroboration for a realistic view of events. Depending on who is present, the narcissist will oftentimes modify their behavior. Individual Lessons Those choosing to resist and not empower the destructive leader should anticipate that standing up for what is right will become more difficult. When they try to use their own voice, they may well be sidelined. Individuals caught up in a negative spiral with a narcissistic leader need support. Find someone to talk with freely, whether inside or outside the organization. This can serve as a reality check. What are the alternative narratives which are being promoted? Alternative narratives are disorienting – conversation with others can offer a balanced point of view. Understand how faith relates to leadership and the level of control which leadership can assume, as well as appropriate response. This could include discussions with clergy, a spiritual director, a faith-based counselor, or other supportive outsider. Plan an exit strategy in case it is needed. Was the situation of Devon and the faith-based nonprofit organization a perfect storm? There were some fortuitous factors from Devon’s perspective such as the Board transition. However, such factors, coupled with Devon’s narcissism, were not sufficient to create the damage which ensued. Fundamentally, the largest factor was the focus on compliance collectively and individually. In this particular situation, compliance appeared compelling as an alternative narrative according to one interpretation of faith. This faith-based compliance created a perfect window of opportunity for Devon, or any narcissistic leader. Additionally, this view of faith reinforced organizational silence giving Devon complete freedom. Employees’ particular interpretation of the Bible left them ill-prepared to face the challenge within their ranks, much less those challenges outside their faith circle. Conclusion Although the situation in this faith-based nonprofit was dire, it provides ample lessons for organizations, groups, and individuals. These are provided to spark change leading to less compliant followers who, in turn, create a less conducive environment. While unable to change a destructive leader, shortening the other two sides of the toxic triangle decreases the space in which a NL can maneuver.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing 125 References Ball, R. G., & Puls, D. (2015). Frequency of narcissistic personality disorder in pastors: A preliminary study. Paper presented at the American Association of Christian Counselors, Nashville, TN. Cohen, E. (1977). Expatriate communities. Current Sociology, 24(3), 5–90. https:// doi.org/10.1177/001139217702400301 Dzubinski, L. M. (2016). Taking on power: Women leaders in evangelical mission organizations. Missiology: An International Review, 44(3), 281–295. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0091829615583732 Gebauer, J. E., Sedikides, C., Verplanken, B., & Maio, G. R. (2012). Communal narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 854–878. https://doi.org/10.1037/ a0029629 Hall, M. E., Edwards, K. J., & Hall, T. W. (2006). The role of spiritual and psychological development in the cross-cultural adjustment of missionaries. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 9(2), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1080/13694670500355262 Kellerman, B. (2004). Bad leadership: What it is, how it happens, why it matters. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Morrison, E. W., & Milliken, F. J. (2000). Organizational silence: A barrier to change and development in a pluralistic world. Academy of Management Review, 25(4), 706–725. Navara, G. S., & James, S. (2002). Sojourner adjustment: Does missionary status affect acculturation? International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 26(6), 695–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00042-1 Padilla, A., Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R. B. (2007). The toxic triangle: Destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments. Leadership Quarterly, 18, 176–194. Sowinska, A. (2007). Ambiguous women: Debates within American evangelical feminism. European Journal of American Culture, 26(3), 167–180. https://doi.org/10.1386/ ejac.26.3.167/1

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Chapter 12 When Founder’s Syndrome Is Used for Personal Gain Terry Fernsler Abstract Founder’s syndrome is when one individual holds disproportionate power and influence in an organization. It is not limited to the founder of an organization and can be found particularly in dominant and charismatic organizational leaders. While the nonprofit leader in this case was not a founder, he was highly charismatic and was granted as much authority as a founder. He became reluctant to share power, even when it was clear he needed help to build the capacity of the organization. The board of directors did not feel it necessary to check the executive director’s power because he had been so successful in growing the organization up to a point. When it was discovered he was having an inappropriate affair with a subordinate employee, however, the board did ask him to resign. Yet it allowed him to name his successor, and accepted the executive director’s nomination of the employee with whom he had an affair. Board and staff of nonprofit organizations have obligations to act in good faith in the governance of the organization and to enforce the duties of care and obligation. This requires transparent communication. Without two-way symmetrical communication maintained throughout the organization, this executive director abused the power granted him for his own gain. Keywords: Founder’s syndrome; charismatic leadership; leader power; accountability; transparency; nonprofit executive When Leadership Fails: Individual, Group and Organizational Lessons from the Worst Workplace Experiences, 127–137 Copyright © 2021 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved doi:10.1108/978-1-80043-766-120211012