Toxic Leadership and Dysfunctional Organizations

article

Abstract

In this article, we distinguish between good-enough leadership in the case of organizational downsizing and the brutal, even sadistic, styles of organizational leaders. The latter uses ideological and economic pretexts to dehumanize and terminate organization members, pushing them to join their colleagues in unemployment lines.

Keywords:

abusive, dehumanization, Donald Trump, downsizing, empathy, good-enough leadership, organizational dysfunction, narcissism, personality development, psychohistory, sadistic, toxic leadership, trauma, unempathetic

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About the authors

Seth Allcorn

Seth Allcorn has a divergent past that doesn’t fit well into traditional labeling, making his five-decade-long work with Howard Stein all the more fulfilling. He was an Army kid drafted out of a graduate business program in 1968, who then worked for five universities and as a full and part-time organizational consultant. These became the basis for many collaborative books and papers. He can be contacted at .

Howard F. Stein

Howard F. Stein, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has contributed many poems and articles to the Journal of Psychohistory, Clio’s Psyche, and many other print and online literary journals/magazines over many years. He authored 32 books, including recently two of poetry, as well as The Psychodynamics of Toxic Organizations: Poetry, Stories, Analysis (2020), which he co-authored with Seth Allcorn. Dr. Stein may be contacted at .

How to cite this article

Allcorn, S., & Stein, H. F. (2026). Toxic leadership and dysfunctional organizations. Clio’s Psyche, 33(1), 3-10.

https://doi.org/10.70763/2fe2a9d4c06124698de449b12aeb6249