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Negative Leadership Qualities

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In our research we asked what leadership qualities are likely to make you disinclined to follow someone. There were three clear themes that stood head and shoulders above the rest:

Arrogance (mentioned by 22%)
Dishonesty (13%) / Lying (5%)
Selfishness (11%)

Arrogance is an excessive version of confidence, which is in the positive list. A good leader allows his/her confidence to be moderated by listening, being willing to take advice, etc. The perception of arrogance can also be influenced by personality type differences. What appears as confidence to one personality type can seem like arrogance to another.

Dishonesty is a mirror image of the first quality mentioned in the positive list. Selfishness is the opposite of traits that appear further down the list, such as listening, being people-oriented, and showing respect and compassion. These are all traits that can be developed.

Other negative qualities that were mentioned often include ignorance (7%), rude (6%), bossy (5%), stupidity (4%), driven by rules (3%), aggression (3%), dogmatic(3%), indecisiveness (3%), bullying (2%), unwillingness (2%), controlling (2%).

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