Why Does Humanity End Up with Dictators as Leaders?
Why doesn't humanity learn? Why do we keep fostering cultures that support the same types of leaders in power, disrupting harmony and attacking innocent people to satisfy egomaniacal needs?
We’ve seen it since the dawn of civilisation, read about it in history books, learned about it from our grandparents, and are looking at it on the news right now, surreal, and terrifying in it its echoes of World War 2. These sorts of leaders aren’t always in charge of a country; sometimes they’re ruining lives on a daily basis by running companies.
The Dangers of God Complex
Democracies are fragile and can easily fail without proper upkeep – in the workplace and the wider world. In fact, every country and workforce is a little at risk of becoming a dictatorship. Dictators are made when leaders choose not to learn from and listen to those around them.
It is not uncommon. Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, anyone? According to Natasha Ezrow, a senior lecturer in the department of government at the University of Essex, most experts who study dictatorships start with a simple definition: “When there’s no turnover in power of the executive, then it’s a dictatorship.”
According to ‘the Psychopath Test’ by Jon Ronson, 4% of CEOs are psychopaths. That means a CEO is four times more likely to be a psychopath than the average person. It also means that leaders above anyone else have a moral responsibility to ensure that their self-awareness and leadership development are ongoing and proactive efforts.
Is My CEO Like This?
Researchers have identified two forms of narcissism: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. With the former, we see a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, and a vindictiveness often observed in narcissistic personality disorder. With the latter, individuals are often described as being worrying, emotional, defensive, anxious, bitter, tense, and complaining.
In famous psychological experiments, researchers found that highly narcissistic individuals are more likely to try to punish individuals who negatively evaluated their work, even when the narcissistic person believed the individuals were administering painful electric shocks. More recent work shows that, after a negative evaluation, narcissistic people will demonstrate greater aggression even to individuals unrelated to the feedback.
Sound familiar at all? These sorts of leaders also typically share other traits and behaviours too:
They drain employee motivation and foster high turnover rates.
They show little to no empathy or respect.
Discourage innovation and quell everyone’s ideas except their own.
They micromanage and adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all leadership approach.
Success and power make them feel special and deluded.
The focus is on blame and negative feedback, rather than support, constructive feedback, and finding solutions to problems.
They foster cultures of fear where their delusions of grandeur are fed, and employees are afraid to make mistakes. They may even remove other successful people as they feel threatened by anyone more intelligent than themselves.
They have little to no self-awareness, don’t listen, and can create their own ‘truth.’
They have a sense of entitlement rather than of duty.
There are harsh punishments for anyone who goes against them.
They can exhibit and be driven by paranoia.
Researchers remain uncertain as to why narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic behaviours emerge. The majority of diagnosed people are male, and researchers speculate that certain genetic factors and parenting styles may increase the chances of developing them.
We do not fully understand the cultural, environmental, or political influences that facilitate the rise of a dictator. What we do know is that we should be actively focusing on fostering diverse cultures of learning and inclusivity that don’t allow for, breed, or tolerate this sort of behaviour when it does rear its head.
The Dangers of a Leadership Coalition
Another crucial ingredient for a dictatorship is a leadership coalition. In a dictatorship, it’s efficient to keep a small group of people loyal by paying them very well. In a workplace, it’s the same set-up. You know them – those favoured few cronies, who were clearly members of their school bully’s gang, and for whom not much has changed. ‘Yes’ people will always be ‘yes’ people, when faced with an aggressively dominant leadership figure.
What is an employee supposed to do? How do you rebel against a repressive regime and an egomaniacal leader in the workplace? It’s a fact that people get tired of such leaders. Resentment festers into passive-aggressive behaviours and unhappy outcomes for whole teams. Complaining to HR or standing up against them may be an option for some (or the brave) however a lot of the time, the oppressed employees simply leave. It perpetuates the cycle.
Humanity clearly never learns.
But I don’t want to lose hope that one day we will. I hope that we continue to see other leaders condemning this sort of ‘leadership’, and calling it out in the workplace too. I hope to see more of a focus on leadership development and a focus from HR teams on identifying the early signs of this sort of ‘leadership’ and growing cultures that don’t support them, and actively stop them from developing.
What do people need in a leader?
A clear vision of where the company is heading, and the ability to inspire others through that vision.
An openness to new ideas and to leadership development.
Flexibility, because the ability to be responsive and more human when it comes to juggling home and work life is increasingly important.
Empathy. Your people are people, trying to achieve a better work-life balance. Work can be hard sometimes too, and a compassionate leader who understands will bring out the best in everyone.
Support, and the ability to proactively nurture coaching cultures.
Approachability, because who wants to work for a boss who they’re scared to even ask a question?
A sense of humour because it helps everyone to keep things in perspective.
Written by Michael
Michael Mauro is the founder of a forward-thinking organisation specialising in leadership, HR and employee development. With over a decade of global experience, Michael has become a leading voice on topics such as culture, inclusion, wellbeing, and the future of leadership.
