Can we understand what good leadership looks like by thinking about what bad leadership looks like? So many times, coachees have confided in me their experiences of bad managers and how that has guided them in their roles as managers to be a different type of manager for their team.

So what does bad leadership look like? We've probably all experienced it to some degree. If you haven't, you've been lucky! Bad leadership can come in two main forms - incompetent leadership and unethical leadership. Within this there are several variations on how bad leadership is expressed.

1. Incompetent Leaders

A. The first type of incompetent is leaders that simply lack will or skill. Perhaps these leaders lack effective role models for what good leadership looks like and they are simply ignorant to the expectations of them in the role. Likely they have had little to no training on management or leadership and have been left to figure things out on their own. There is hope for this type of leader, through development, feedback and coaching these leaders can increase their self-awareness and shift their behaviours. If it is will they are lacking, the problem is more complex. In this case they have the skills they are just lacking the motivation to implement it. Unless there are personal life events that are momentarily affecting the leader the best course of action here is probably to find a different position for the leader or let them go from the organisation.

B. The second type of incompetent leader is one that is closed off to change. Stereotypically this could be an older leader who fears change as a threat to their position as they perceive they lack the skills and resources to operate in the new environment. I am reminded of Michael Scott in TV docudrama The Office when he resisted the implementation of a website for customers to order direct. This leader is more than a skeptic or a challenger to change, they actively resist new ways of doing things and stifle creativity and innovation in the organisation. Anyone who is driven by continuous improvement will be seriously frustrated under this manager. Ultimately this manager will lose good employees and worse risk the very survival of the business if they cannot adapt and see the value in new ways of doing things.

C. The third type of incompetent leader lacks self-control. You may have experienced leaders like this who has sudden outbursts, display every emotion they are feeling and make decisions on a whim. While I am an advocate for authentic leadership, don't mistake that for showing everything that you are feeling to everyone. Leaders need to learn techniques to regulate their emotions and engage in appropriate emotional expression. As the leader you are center stage and your actions are magnified with everyone looking to you to set the tone. Thus, if you are stressed, others will be stressed. If you are angry, others will be on edge as they wait to see where the anger is directed. These leaders need to have clear, direct and caring feedback on their behaviour from someone who has the courage to say something! They then need to work on themselves with coaching and EQ development to lead more consciously and mindfully and respond rather than react to triggers in their environment.

2. Unethical Leaders

A. The first type of unethical leader is callous. Where the incompetent leader with no self-control may inadvertently hurt people, the callous leader does so with more conscious awareness of what they are doing. These leaders are uncaring and unkind and use their leadership position as a way to exert power and control over others. They may see themselves as better than others and their leadership role is affirmation of that. They may believe that treating people badly is a valid way to get loyalty and high performance out of others. (It isn't).

B. Unethical leaders can also be corrupt. These leaders hold values that go against what most of us agree are important codes for us to live by. Values such as honesty, integrity, transparency and ethics. Unethical leaders may consider themselves to be above the rules that the rest of us live by and can have narcissistic traits. Unethical leaders may have started working within the rules and one time they stepped over the line into unethical practices. Once the line has been crossed it becomes easier to push it further, until you find yourself in very murky waters. There is an excellent documentary that highlights this gradual creep of unethical behaviour - (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies. In it, Dan Ariely looks at the Enron leaders, an NBA referee, golfers and more. In all of the cases the people involved consider themselves to be 'good people' who got caught up in something that became beyond their control. It's interesting to consider how we label people as good or bad and the truth is often far less clear and contains shades of grey rather than being black and white.

C. Unethical leaders can also be insular and ignore the needs and welfare of others outside the organisation. At first these leaders might seem great. They talk of the organisation as being like a family and seek to protect the people within it. This though can also bring up images of the mob boss who is willing to see others fall to maintain the 'family business' and the welfare of those in the family. The organisation becomes cult like and either you are in - and demonstrate high loyalty to the leader and organisation, or you are out and are therefore cast as an enemy. You can see signs of this in Donald Trump and his family where they keep a tight circle of trusted people and anyone who chooses to speak out against them is immediately outcast and the target for abuse. This form of unethical leader may also show little concern for the environment or communities that are impacted by their business. Maintaining the health and success of the organisation is the top priority.

D. Finally unethical leaders can be evil - they do psychological harm to others. This could be in the form of repeated and severe bullying, emotional manipulation or physical and sexual violence. This is serious and, in most places, illegal actions by a leader and should be addressed immediately if you see it in your organisation. It is easy to dismiss this as something that doesn't happen in your organisation, but it may be that unless you are on the receiving end of it you do not see what is happening clearly. The volume of cases that arose out of the me-too movement showed us the often-hidden nature of sexual violence in workplaces that have been suffered and are still being suffered by women all around the world from sweat shops to Hollywood.

Incompetent leaders can be annoying and result in stagnation of the organisation and a de-motivated team; but they are not dangerous in the way that unethical leaders are. Unethical leaders cannot distinguish the difference between right and wrong and can cause deep and permanent harm to people, society and the environment.

If you are in an environment with an unethical leader my only advice would be to leave as soon as you can. Incompetent leaders, in most cases can be trained up and can shift their mindset and up-skill. Unethical leaders on the other hand are very hard to change and as a follower you would be wasting your time and energy trying! With unethical leaders you can unwittingly get caught up in their bad behaviour and become involved in something much bigger than yourself that brings harm to others or is illegal.

Overview of incompetent and unethical leaders

Note - thanks to Mark Hughes Managing Change for these labels of bad leaders. The descriptions and examples are my own.