The complexity of leadership and the simplicity of leadership development

Julia Romanowska

Chapter 2 in Leadership, Art, and Responsibility, 2026, pp 5-16 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines the deep and irreducible tensions within leadership: its capacity to serve what is good in the world and its equal potential for harm. Drawing on psychological, neuroscientific, and organisational research, it shows how power can erode empathy, distort judgement, and amplify destructive tendencies. Classic and contemporary studies demonstrate how cruelty, prejudice, and narcissistic patterns take root when power goes unchecked, revealing the vulnerability of human beings to situational forces. Amid the growing ambiguity and pressure that characterise contemporary organisational life, leaders may retreat into defensive strategies that shield the self while turning away from reality. Such avoidance can impair judgement and lead to ethical failure. The chapter analyses destructive leadership in both active and passive forms – from coercive and narcissistic styles to the widespread destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership, which harms through absence, silence, non-decision, and suppression of dissent. These dynamics shape organisational cultures, enabling bullying, fear, and ethical breakdown, and spread through mirroring and institutional silence. The chapter further critiques the leadership development field, arguing that traditional programmes rely on simplified ideals, behavioural prescriptions, and comforting illusions that fail to address the existential and ethical complexity of leadership. Despite vast global investment, scientific evidence of their effectiveness is scarce. Far less attention is paid to the darker dimensions of power or to the fragility of human nature on which leadership depends. By clarifying the tensions inherent in leadership, the chapter prepares the ground for a different understanding of leadership development – one capable of confronting power without illusion.

Keywords: Destructive Leadership; Power Dynamics; Leadership Development; Laissez-faire Leadership; Organisational Culture; Moral Psychology; Leadership Industry; Masculine Leadership Ideals; Ethical Responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781049403991
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781049404004.00008 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:25801_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().