Leadership

After reading the excerpt “Toxic Leaders”, I am fully aware of what a toxic leader is. My first intentions of a toxic leader was someone who was and leader in general. But after reading the article I got an overall understanding and clear cut definition of a toxic leader. As described Lipman-Blumen a toxic leader is “a process in which leaders, by dint of their destructive behavior and/or dysfunctional personal characteristics inflict serious and enduring harm on their followers, their organizations, and nonfollowers, alike”. In others words a leader is someone who expresses negative behavior towards or around innocent observers or followers. I have been encountered around an individual who performed uncivilized behavior. When I was a sophomore running track, my team captain implemented toxic behavior around me and my fellow teammates. She had a bad problem with having toxic attitude almost daily that was unnecessary and negatively expressed towards the team and coach. Whenever a runner was losing in heat she would yell and cuss at the runner because she was disappointed that he/she was failing to lead the race. I felt her role was taken for granted because as a team leader she was not motivating and establishing positive attitude around her teammates. Her attitude rippled and affected other teammates because they soon picked her habit and began to demonstrate the same negative influence she was distributing. My track captain was a prime example of a toxic leader because her personality harmed and influenced the organization she was leading into destruction. I also recognized that she was a toxic leader because her personality failed to understand the nature of relevant problems and acted knowledgeably and effectively in situations requiring leadership. Also looking up to and admiring pop stars I noticed that they too can be toxic leaders. For example, many people around the world look up to pop star sensation Michael Jackson. Michael was a major influence to young and old people who, but he had many mistakes that he felt were amoral or not wrong. A primary example was when he hovered his youngest child, Blanket over a balcony to show off to his die-hard fans. Many people saw that this action was dangerous and wrong, while on the other hand Mike did not see anything wrong. I felt this was toxic because Jackson was not willing to claim that he was wrong in act of hanging his dangling baby over a balcony. This was an example of a toxic leader’s personal quality. Amorality is a leader makes it nigh impossible to discern right from wrong. Michael Jackson is an example of this because he did not see anything wrong about the danger that he had did towards his child, he thought he was right for showing the world and fans his dear hearted son. While the media and by standers all felt that he was highly wrong for conducting in such act. After reviewing this situation, I believe Michael Jackson is a toxic leader only because he find his actions and moods right when noticeably they are wrong.