Destructive leadership: state of the art and future directions

Destructive leadership - in its many forms and configurations - causes major harm to individuals, teams, organizations, and even societies. It is therefore surprising that destructive leadership has received little scholarly attention in comparison to constructive leadership, while research has shown that both types of leadership are similarly impactful. In this chapter, we discuss trends in research on destructive leadership and provide counterarguments for the trivialization the importance of studying destructive leadership. Additionally, we provide an overview of the book. The aims of this book are to provide a state-of-the art overview of the field and to stimulate more systematic high-quality research on destructive leadership by providing clear new avenues for research. To reach these aims, this book includes 19 chapters divided into three parts: (I) Forms of destructive leadership, (II) Boundary conditions and context, and (III) Methods relevant to the study of destructive leadership.