How political followers can stop a toxic leader, with Ira Chaleff

With Donald Trump set to return to the White House for season 2 of his dystopian presidential freak show, Democrats and liberals like me are bracing for a potentially major blow to the democratic institutions and processes of the United States.

Based on the past actions Trump has taken to expand and hold onto power, and also on promises he has made to further consolidate power and weaken or eliminate checks and balances against him, concerned citizens on the left, and also many on the right, see a tyrant in the making in Donald Trump. Can he be stopped before it's too late to save the American experiment?

In this episode, I talk with the person who can answer this question perhaps better than anyone. Ira Chaleff is an internationally recognized expert on leadership and political followership studies, a field in which he's considered a pioneer. He has spent decades working in and around Washington in nonpartisan organizations, including over 20 years as director of the Congressional Management Foundation. Ira has led and participated in democracy-strengthening programs in Asia, West Africa, and Eastern Europe. His books The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders, and Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You're Told to Do is Wrong, are used widely in leadership programs and have been translated into multiple languages.

Ira Chaleff's latest book is To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Political Followers to Make or Brake a Toxic Leader, and I am proud to be its publisher under the Wonderwell Press imprint.

Ira is a political independent, and in this interview, he struck a much more balanced perspective than I personally hold (or even feel all that comfortable engaging with). But I learned a lot from him and could feel my blood pressure deescalating even as we spoke. Yes, we are at a risky point in our political history, but no, it's not too late to do something about that.

In this episode, we explore the definitions of tyranny, autocracy, and toxic leadership, emphasizing the importance of political followers in shaping leadership behavior. Ira introduces the concept of proto-tyrants and the critical window for intervention before a leader consolidates power. Our discussion also covers the types of followers—conformists, colluders, and courageous followers—and the dire consequences of inaction against tyranny. We also talked about the challenges posed by the current information ecosystem and the need for informed citizenry to safeguard democracy.

Ira's book and message are for everyone, anywhere on the political spectrum. If you are alarmed or dismayed by the current state of our political climate and feeling powerless, listen in to learn how to effectively wield the power that you really do hold, not necessarily as a member of the opposition, but as a responsible and engaged follower.

Historically, almost all democracies descend into tyranny. Ours doesn't have to.

Learn more about the book, its author and publisher:
To Stop a Tyrant (buy the book)
Ira Chaleff (author website)
Wonderwell Press

More about Selfish Gift host Maggie Langrick:
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