Article 2: The Dark Side of Leadership

What makes a great leader? We believe that a great leader strives to follow the philosophy of intentional leadership. In our last article, we outlined our initial ideas on what makes an intentional leader: 

Intentional leadership occurs when we consciously lead more from our bright and best selves side (think being collaborative, trusting, and creative for example) than we do from our dark side and unchecked ego selves (think being manipulative, domineering, and secretive for example). The journey to intentional leadership requires the courage to fight the daily battle between our bright and dark sides. This never-ending journey is intrinsic to every one of us—nobody is immune. It is only on the days when we win this battle and our bright side outshines our dark side, that we can display intentional leadership. 

In this week’s exploration of intentional leadership, we dive deeper into the dark side of leadership. Where does our dark side come from? What does it look like when we lead more from our dark side than from our bright side? What does the dark side consist of? Let’s take a closer look!  

So, where does the dark side come from? One of the main influences on our development are our childhood experiences, especially from our formative years from birth to the end of primary school. It is in this developmental stage that our experiences shape how we perceive the world, feel and behave, and ultimately lead later in life. 

Think of getting a gold star at school. We become programmed to chase the gold star by ourselves, as opposed to collaborating with others to learn and develop new skills. From an early age, we are programmed to be more focused on our individual success than on collective success, more on the “I”, instead of the “we”. These early experiences shape our belief systems, actions, and results later in life.  

Let’s look at an example. Think of a leader who just received their People Survey results, and their collaboration score was very low. In other words, the results (top of the pyramid in the diagram above) are negative. These results often stem from unintentional leadership actions which are driven by old erroneous beliefs and experiences from our formative years that are buried in our subconscious.  

The question we must ask ourselves to peel back the layers of conditioning and strive towards becoming an intentional leader: Do these old beliefs still serve us today? If the answer is no, we need to challenge them using questions like:  

• Am I 100% sure that these beliefs are true?  
• What evidence disputes these beliefs?  
• What is an alternative more empowering belief? 
• What does operating from that alternative belief look like? 

Identifying these new beliefs help shape intentional leadership actions that produce different, more positive results. In this case improved scores on the People Survey. 

One ugly way the dark side of leadership establishes itself when going unchecked is the Hubris syndrome. Defined by Jonathan Davidson in the context of leadership research, the Hubris syndrome is a “disorder of the possession of power, particularly power which has been associated with overwhelming success, held for a period of years.” Davidson analysed Heads of Government in the US and UK over the last 100 years and found that an out-of-control dark side has a detrimental effect on our leadership style (think for example Boris Johnson, or more historically Margaret Thatcher, or George W. Bush).  

An unchecked dark side is a barrier to becoming intentional leaders. Instead of learning valuable lessons from our mistakes and accepting the learner mindset as a default, we are often blinded by our own self-centred behaviour. Instead of being collaborative, we put our own interests first. Instead of giving credit to the team, we might claim it as our own. Instead of being balanced, we are acting overly dominant. We control instead of empowering; we withhold information instead of sharing. 

Climbing the ladder towards becoming an intentional leader and breaking free from the shackles of an unchecked dark side means that we need to constantly check in with ourselves, be honest, and reflective. Some great reflective questions to ask ourselves daily are   

• Am I leading from my bright side or my dark side right now?  
• What action can I take right now to shift from leading from my dark side to leading from my bright side, and what is the payoff for making that shift? 

Having the courage to fight the internal battle between our dark side and our bright side allows us to become a better person, and our leadership to become more intentional. This allows us to lead in a way to have a positive impact on the world around us. Because ultimately, leadership is not about us, it is about serving other people, the organisation we work in, and a cause bigger than ourselves. In the words of poet Maya Angelou: 

“Pick up the battle and make it a better world just where you are. It can be better and it must be better, but it’s up to us.” 

Thank you! Thanks to my Making Shift Happen colleague Anne Mahler, PHD for her help in creating this article series. Thanks also to you, the reader for tuning in. See you for our next instalment, when we will discuss the bright side of leadership.  

 In the meantime, Shine On, folks!