A Quick Guide to Stopping Toxic Leaders – from Followership Expert Ira Chaleff

Do you know a tyrant?

We tend to think of tyranny on a national scale, but tyrants can arise in any leadership role: a parent, a supervisor at work, a CEO, or a town mayor. We also tend to think of tyrants wielding the power to rise on their own, but they require followers to exert any authority at all.

And that, according to our podcast guest Ira Chaleff , is how we can put the brakes on a toxic leader – maybe even nudge them to a better path. Ira is the author of the book To Stop a Tyrant and a globally recognized expert on followership. He unearthed several ways you, as either a follower or a fellow leader, can reduce such extreme toxicity.

Before that, two quick reminders:

-Ira is careful to point out the equal nature of tyranny: it’s apolitical, historically arising from both the left and the right.

-There are exceptions, but few tyrants start off that way; many even begin with genuinely good intent.

As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. To that end, spot the proto-tyrants around you. These are simply people exhibiting early signs of tyrannical tendencies. An authoritarian leadership style is the most obvious: making decisions unilaterally, disdain for others’ authority or checks and balances, seeing feedback as a threat, and so on. That’s the low-hanging fruit; many proto-tyrants evolve more subtly. They’ll slip in polarizing language, for example, or cultivate personal loyalty over the organization or mission, and flout the company’s (or society’s) norms. Most subtly, they’ll change their messaging and stated goals based on what excites their teams, departments, or other followers.

There’s a reason Ira’s earlier book is entitled The Courageous Follower. It takes courage to speak up in almost any social situation, but all the more when you’re speaking truth to power. This is vital, though; as a toxic leader’s power grows, the bubble of loyalty around them spawns groupthink. Few, if any, followers are providing different, even factual, counter opinions. There can be risks. People may fear losing their jobs in retaliation, for example. But sometimes, even tyrants cherish a check on their views; that was the actual job behind many court jesters in kingdoms of old! Jesters point to your approach in discussions with these leaders: be respectful, non-confrontational, and positive. Argument and anger serves no one.

Be proactive. Leadership training is all but nonexistent in politics, families, the arts, small business, and many other sectors. Even in large corporations, it can be a mere formality. That means many of our leaders in both the private and public sectors make assumptions, teach themselves, and mimic poor leaders they admire. In short, they make the mistake of thinking leadership is only about power. So, help them learn. Introduce them to thought leaders, encourage them to join the International Leadership Association or similar groups, suggest books, recommend consultants – generally, help them realize they’re not alone, and that there’s a wealth of leadership wisdom out here for them.

Finally, follow your moral agency. That may sound old-fashioned, yet the growth of emotionless AI and other tech means the role of humans in maintaining ethics and moral integrity is critical. This applies to both you and the leader. For you, as Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” No leader should ever force you to abandon your moral principles. More importantly, though, remind the leader of their own ethical standards, and nudge them when they push the boundaries. It’s ever so easy to slowly slip past those borders. Your prods could be just the reminder to help that leader stay true to their own self.

None of these steps are easy. In the process, though, you may do more than stop a tyrant. You might just carve a path to creating a great leader instead.

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This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode To Stop a Tyrant: How Five Types of Followers Make (or Brake) a Toxic Leader.

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