Valpeo / Insights / Leadership
Opinion • When our society gives a platform to toxic leaders
July 20, 2022
The battle between world leaders is being fought on a razor’s edge. The polls point in two directions and every self-respecting individual looks with great bewilderment at the persistence with which Putin expresses the caricature he has become of himself.
“He is the prototype of the toxic leader and, based on his impactful role, a real threat to our society,” say Frank De Mey and Stephan Soens, both Partners at Accord Group Belgium, subsidiary of VALPEO, a leadership advisory firm.
The American writer, professor and consultant in the field of organizational theory Peter Drucker sees toxic leadership as a process in which leaders cause serious and lasting damage through their destructive behavior and/or dysfunctional personality traits, both to their ‘non-followers’ and ultimately to their ‘followers’ and their own organization(s).
Toxic leaders are reprehensible to those who have to endure their actions without accepting them and often heroes to others for whom they have created the ‘illusion of something to hold on to’ and a reason to exist.
About Frank De Mey
Frank De Mey is a partner at VALPEO. He possesses considerable experience and expertise in the field of ‘Executive Search’ on the one hand and ‘Assessments & Development Centers’ on the other hand. Both the public and private sector have no secrets for Frank, as he has worked for small, medium and large organisations such as Infrabel, NMBS, HR-Rail, Aquafin, Havenbedrijf Antwerpen, FWO, UZ Brussel, ZNA,…).
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