S11-Ep1: To Stop a Tyrant: How Five Types of Followers Make (or Brake) a Toxic Leader

Guest: Ira Chaleff, former executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation

Tyrants can only rise with our help. And they aren’t limited to heads of state. Family heads, corporate CEOs, a town mayor: any leadership role can have tyrannical qualities. As followers, we make them possible.

 

And we can push them to a better path.

 

Our guest, Ira Chaleff, studies followership in-depth. He’s identified five categories of followers who play a role in a tyrant’s rise…and how they can change that course.

Here's what Ira and Maureen cover:

1. Where you may stand in the follower categories;
2. The big differences between dictators and tyrants; and
3. What you can do to improve outcomes by understanding the concepts of courageous followership.

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

• The Dance Between Leadership & Followership with Margaret Heffernan & Ira Chaleff
• Courageous Followership with Neil Grunberg & Ira Chaleff
• They’re Always Watching You: A White House Advisor’s Lessons for Every Leader with Betsy Myers

Produced in conjunction with the International Leadership Association: https://ilaglobalnetwork.org/.

For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!

 

RESOURCES:  

Ira’s book, To Stop a Tyrant, is available in hardback at https://amzn.to/3W5XDys and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/420Zvwc. An audiobook edition is coming soon.

 

Learn more about Ira, his other books, and his extensive work at https://irachaleffauthor.com/.

 

Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. 

 

Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.

 

Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. 

 

Books we’re reading for fun or personal development right now include:

• To Stop a Tyrant by Ira Chaleff, on how leaders become tyrants and their types of followers, is in hardback on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3W5XDys and on Kindle at https://amzn.to/420Zvwc. An audiobook edition is coming soon.
• Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work by Ancestry CEO Deb Liu, on how to overcome the obstacles women still face in the workplace – especially in tech. It’s in hardback at https://amzn.to/47OUO9E, and audio at https://amzn.to/3Y6EmOQ.
• Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A by Steve Robinson; it’s available in hardback at