The document summarizes Barbara Kellerman's book "Bad Leadership" which examines the dark side of leadership. It discusses how bad leaders satisfy basic human needs but can harm others, outlines types of ineffective leadership like incompetence and unethical styles, and suggests individuals and societies can minimize bad leadership by limiting leader tenure, sharing power, and followers empowering themselves and holding leaders accountable.

1. BAD LEADERSHIP
By BARBARA KELLERMAN
What It Is,
How It Happens,
Why It Matters.
Compiled by-
Siddhant Agarwal

2. CONTENTS
• Part One – The Bad Side
(The claiming of and reasons for the BAD side)
• Part Two – Leading Badly
(The symptoms of being a BAD leader)
• Part Three – From Bad to Better
(The cost, benefits and corrections to transfer
from a BAD to a BETTER leader)

3. PREFACE
• In the book, Barbara Kellerman portrays leadership in dark
shades of the human nature.
• It explains the reasons and how the exercise of power,
authority and influence can cause harm.
• How a leader is alone not responsible for the carelessness and
neglect. Though not deliberate, this does not make it less
injurious.
• It suggests how this book can be used to become an effecting
leader not by just ignoring bad leadership, but rather attacking
it as a disease which can be fatal and sometimes deadly.
• Finally, it explains how to maximize good leadership and
minimize BAD leadership.

4. The Bad Side
• Bad leaders often satisfy our most basic human
needs like safety, simplicity, and certainty.
• It may simply be in their best (selfish) interests to
go with the flow.
• Not following may entail risk and certainly
requires courage.
There is a dark side of the human condition. It
paints leadership in shades of gray—and in black.
- Barbara Kellerman

5. The Reasons
• Bad Leaders- The want for power, influence,
aggressiveness, greed for more money and
success etc.
• Bad Followers- Followers are equally to be
blamed for the growth of Bad Leaders. The
Individual and Group needs which are satisfied
by Bad Leaders are the main cause of the
group following Bad Leaders, and thus
becoming Bad Followers themselves.

6. Leading Badly: Ineffective Leadership
(Types of BAD Leadership)
• Incompetent- This means that the leader and atleast
some of his followers lack the skill and will to sustain
effective action and lack of positive change.
• Rigid- The leader may be stiff and unyielding to
different situations. They may be competent, but are
unwilling to adapt to new ideas, new information or
changing times.
• Intemperate- The leader may lack self-control and is
aided and abetted by followers who are unwilling or
unable to effectively intervene.

7. Unethical Leadership
• Collous- The leader is uncaring or unkind. Ignored
and discounted are the needs, wants, and wishes of
most members of the group or organization,
especially subordinates.
• Corrupt- The leader lies, cheats, or steals. To a degree
that exceeds the norm, he puts self-interest ahead of
the public interest.
• Insular- The leader minimizes or disregards the health
and welfare of those outside the group or organization
for which he is directly responsible.
• Evil- The leader commits atrocities. They use pain as
an instrument of power. The harm can be physical,
psychological or both.

8. From Bad to Better
(Costs and Benefits)
• Bad Leadership incurs costs not only at the
level of the individual but also at the level of
the group. The damages are both short term
and long term and are very high.
• The Benefits of becoming better is that
Leadership is dynamic process, so the bad that
has been done can be mended as soon as
possible to avoid further damages.

9. Corrections and Improvements
-Leaders-
• Limiting the tenure.
• Sharing Power.
• Getting real and Staying real.
• Working on Strengths and Manners.
• Working on Vision, Value, Verve, Prescience
Common Sense, Flexibility and Adaptability.
• Managing all Resources.
• Staying balanced.
• Being reflective.

10. Corrections and Improvements
-Followers-
• Empowering oneself.
• Be loyal to everyone.
• Be skeptical.
• Take a stand.
• Paying attention.
• Find ones own sources for information.
• Taking action for any wrong done.

11. About the Author
• Barbara Kellerman is Research
Director of the Centre for Public
Leadership at Harvard
University’s John F. Kennedy
School of Government. She is a
pioneer in the field of leadership
studies and has held
professorships at the likes of
George Washington Universities.
She has received her M.A in
European Studies as well as her
M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Political
Science from Yale University.