Individual differences in leadership derailment. Paper presented at the 19th annual conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational

With the rise of corporate scandals, employees are starting to question the true intentions of their leaders. This apparent lack of integrity among leaders in the United States has called into question the nature of leadership. Much research has focused on the positive aspects of leadership, or those things that leaders do well. Unlike previous research, this study examines the important role that the dark side of personality can play in understanding ineffective leadership. The study examined the impact of a leader’s dysfunctional interpersonal tendencies on multi-rater evaluations. Results indicated that (a) dysfunctional behaviors associated with arrogance, cautiousness, volatility, and skepticism negatively influenced ratings of performance and (b) dysfunctional behaviors showed differential effects across rater groups. Dark side personality characteristics represent flawed interpersonal strategies that (a) reflect an individual’s imprecise beliefs about others and (b) negatively influence careers (Hogan & Hogan, 1997). These dysfunctional tendencies emerge during novel, stressful, or heavy workloads. Individuals with the requisite skills and abilities may fail because of flawe