Leadership has never played a more prominent role in America's national discourse, and yet our opinions of leaders are at all-time lows. Private sector leaders are widely seen as greedy to the point of being corrupt. Public sector leaders are viewed as incompetent to the point of being inept. And, levels of trust in government have plummeted. As the title of this book conveys, leaders in America are experiencing hard times. Barbara Kellerman argues...

This groundbreaking volume provides the first sweeping view of followers in relation to their leaders, deliberately departing from the leader-centric approach that dominates our thinking about leadership and management. Barbara Kellerman argues that, over time, followers have played increasingly vital roles. For two key reasons, this trend is now accelerating. Followers are becoming more important, and leaders less. Through gripping stories about...

"Bad Leadership argues that it's time to embrace a more honest, holistic view of leadership that acknowledges the dark side of human nature and its impact on leaders and followers alike. In a departure from conventional thinking, Barbara Kellerman contends that bad leadership is not an aberration, but a ubiquitous and insidious part of everyday life that must be carefully examined and better understood." "Kellerman identifies two fundamental categories...