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Bad Leaders: Some Realities, Reasons and Remedies

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Debating Bad Leadership

Part of the book series: Palgrave Debates in Business and Management ((PDBM))

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Abstract

Bad leaders are a distressing and discomforting reality of organizational life. “Bad bosses” are characterized as such because they are ineffective, incompetent and/or abusive. After discussing some realities concerning bad leaders and their effect on organizations, five plausible reasons for this persistent workplace problem are offered. Possible remedies are suggested, such as repositioning the role of a leader, and integrating practices for achieving high performance and well-being. An action-oriented challenge and several points to ponder are offered to encourage further engagement to help mitigate the bad leader problem. Leaders and other organizational stakeholders can benefit from a better understanding of how they can help enhance performance, well-being and virtuous behavior at work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business, Pepperdine University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Charles D. Kerns

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  1. Charles D. Kerns
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Correspondence to Charles D. Kerns .

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  1. Department of Working Life and Innovation School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Grimstad, Norway

    Anders Örtenblad

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Kerns, C.D. (2021). Bad Leaders: Some Realities, Reasons and Remedies. In: Örtenblad, A. (eds) Debating Bad Leadership. Palgrave Debates in Business and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65025-4_12

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