Towards an understanding of stakeholder experiences of the destructive behaviour by leaders

Abstract

Purpose – The extant literature exhibits a proliferation of constructs related to destructive leadership, leading to a problematic conflation of leadership styles with leadership behaviour. This research aims to address this conceptual ambiguity by gaining a deeper understanding of the experience of destructive leadership behaviour. The scope is deliberately confined to leaders’ behaviours, as this approach allows for a more precise analysis of the phenomenon and helps to clarify the broad and diverse conceptualizations currently found in the literature. Research Approach – This study adopted a qualitative research approach using semistructured interviews to understand the lived experiences, antecedents, and consequences of destructive leadership behaviour. Data were gathered from a purposive sample of 20 participants who had direct experience working with or managing a destructive leader. The gathered data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings – The analysis confirmed existing literature regarding the experience and antecedents of destructive behaviour, with a few nuances. However, this research identified several novel sub-themes related to the consequences of this behaviour, specifically quiet quitting, hiding, the lingering effect on employees as well as the possibility of systemic fallout. These findings potentially extend existing theory by highlighting a previously underexplored link between destructive leadership behaviour, the employee response, the longer-term impact on employees, and the potentially undetected systemic nature of turnover over an extended period of time. Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in South Africa, and therefore the results may differ in a different geographical context. Practical/managerial implications – The consequences of destructive leadership behaviour can be damaging to organisations, but the detrimental impact on employees is more extreme. Although organisations may have reporting processes in place, to deal with this phenomenon more effectively it is important to understand how these control mechanisms may fail.