Ahhh, the dark side of transformational leadership!\u00a0 What a nice, light topic for this week.\u00a0 It reminds me of the Darth Vader of leadership! \u00a0Such a bright subject to tackle but also a necessary subject as well.<\/p>\n
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow.\u00a0 The problem is that charismatic leaders can create millions of followers and yet have all the wrong intentions.\u00a0 Our political environment right now is in turmoil because of some of the wrong charismatic leaders being in some of the wrong places.\u00a0 I won\u2019t tackle the President and what I see as his failures, as I know there are those that trust in him and follow him.\u00a0 But I also know that power in the wrong hands can be dangerous.<\/p>\n
I live in a family of transformational leaders.\u00a0 My dad was the mayor of our small town, my husband was a State Senator, and I myself served as head of many organizations and non-profit organizations.\u00a0 But I saw so much corruption within the political world.\u00a0 Leaders were leading people into many negative directions because they possessed a charisma that people listen to and followed.\u00a0 As Tourish pointed out in his book, charisma can be a scary thing.\u00a0 That\u2019s because leaders don\u2019t necessarily act in the best interest of the organization and instead allow self-interest and personal goals to override the organization\u2019s goals.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n When I was a director of a local non-profit entity a number of years ago, we had an Executive Director over the organization who was anything, but scrupulous.\u00a0 His followers were many, but his intentions were personal.\u00a0 Because of that, the non-profit was not the focus for him.\u00a0 It was all about him getting ahead!\u00a0 What I found was that people will follow leaders with blinders on because of their charismas alone.\u00a0 That is a scary thought!<\/p>\n Andy Andrews\u2019 book, How Do you Kill 11 Million People? \u00a0i<\/em>s a very powerful story about the Holocaust.\u00a0 In the book, the author tells about how Hitler tricked 11 million people to go to their own death through his leadership filled with lies.\u00a0 It is truly a powerful example of a charismatic leader who misled people through his dark side influence.\u00a0 In it, Andrews explores that \u201cif it is correct that \u2018you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,\u2019 then is it possible that if you don\u2019t know the truth, its absence can place you in bondage? (or even lead you to death?\u201d)[2]<\/a>\u00a0 In the case of the Holocaust, this couldn\u2019t be more true.\u00a0 As Hitler continued to lie to the Jews, they could have revolted at any time and certainly taken over Hitler\u2019s regime.\u00a0 Yet, they believed the lies and followed his leadership, walking blindly into a falsehood that cost them their lives.<\/p>\n John Lennon once said, \u201cLiving is easy with eyes closed.\u201d\u00a0 Every day in this world, people are blindly following false leaders.\u00a0 And each day, we are losing a part of our value and self-worth as we trust and believe in the wisdom of the unwise.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it be wonderful if everyone could know the one true Leader and follow in His calling upon our lives?\u00a0 Because walking in blindness can lead us into oblivion.<\/p>\n In the final words of Soren Kierkegaard, a famous Danish theologian, \u201cThere are two ways to be fooled.\u00a0 One is to believe what isn\u2019t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.\u201d\u00a0 AMEN!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n