[January 10, 2024] Evil leaders exist. While leadership means many things, it ultimately means getting people to accomplish a goal. Leaders come in a range of abilities and outcomes in performance – great, good, bad and, yes, evil. But one category, the evil leader, deserves special mention.
Several years ago, I was presented with a DVD of recordings that contained TV broadcasts by then-President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. What surprised me was his practical advice and positive comments about the people of Iraq. He came across as a highly respected, grandfatherly figure – guiding his children (citizens) to do good things and the importance of family life.
It struck me at the time that this was in radical contrast to his position as a strong-arm, evil dictator versus his role as a father over his country. It got me thinking that evil dictators must have many of the same positive leadership characteristics as all successful leaders. They do. Most of them instill trust and confidence in those they lead.
Some will call this a contradiction by noting that leaders who do not have appropriate internalized values will not succeed. Yes, even the most evil leaders must be trusted by the most numbers or influential members of their group, organization, or society. This certainly does not make them suitable, for they are still evil leaders; the point is that regardless of how evil they are, there will be followers.
The most common flaw in the evil leader is not ignorance but excessive megalomania enabled by others who desire power in the evil sphere of influence. It has been said that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The evil behavior of these leaders is universally directed toward damaging or destroying an outside group, thereby exercising power for all to see – a visible demonstration of the force that the evil leader possesses.
Saddam Hussein was ruthless with his enemies (which were many) yet kind to many in his country. Like Hitler against the Jews, Mao against the Capitalists, and Saddam who opposed the state of Iran, the Persians, and the Shia sect of Islam (and later America).
There are, of course, lesser evil leaders, those that do not necessarily kill and maim others but, nonetheless, destroy the livelihoods and families through their quest for power. These people are most frequently found in significant positions of authority within governments or control large amounts of resources via large organizations (legal and illegal). And at the individual level, we might call them narcissists.
Those involved in the production, transportation, distribution, and selling of illegal drugs, human smuggling, sex slaves, and other commodities (like gun running) are examples of an emerging evil enterprise. Many believe an example is Capitalist corporate corruption, and illegal toxic waste dumping is also dangerous.
The key ideas here are that evil leaders exist, can be very successful, and possess many key leadership traits found in our times’ best and most successful leaders. But they are still evil … and directly responsible for some of humankind’s greatest tragedies, and we should never forget.
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Erledlech
Excellent comment. ” Evil is Evil. Problem is most people who are refuse to believe it present “.
Saul was Evil leader in the Bible due to jealous over David. The women who were singing a song in victory over the battle Isreal won. They said” Saul killed 1,000 but David killed his 10,000 .”Which meant David killed ten times more than Saul.
Proverbs says “jealous” is as crude as a grave.
Leader influence people in a positive way or negative way. Question are we a leader of positive 🤔
1 Thessalonians 5:22 reject every kind of evil.
“The most common flaw in the evil leader is not ignorance but excessive megalomania enabled by others who desire power in the evil sphere of influence. It has been said that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The evil behavior of these leaders is universally directed toward damaging or destroying an outside group, thereby exercising power for all to see – a visible demonstration of the force that the evil leader possesses.” – Gen. Satterfield
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I will add that these tyrants usually cannot exist without a lot of natural resources like oil, coal, gold, diamonds, etc. This is so because the population is so restricted that they cannot produce enough to sustain that evil.
Good points, I would like Gen. Satterfield to elaborate more.
The Bible speaks about Evil. I suggesting reading it because there is a way to fight evil and recognize it for what it is.
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“Those involved in the production, transportation, distribution, and selling of illegal drugs, human smuggling, sex slaves, and other commodities (like gun running) are examples of an emerging evil enterprise.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield. I will add that these are the result of the purposeful policies of Pres Joe Biden and his evil followers. He is surrounded by Yes Men and they are really running the country, it is certainly not him and braindead VP Kamala Harris is too stupid and even Biden’s yes men know that.
A reiteration of an older idea from Gen. Satterfield, thank you sir!
Right, Northeast, this is why most of us here are long-time readers of this great leadership blog, by Gen. Doug Satterfield. His daily comments range from the macro geo-political to the micro psychology of the human mind. Read the blog and you will be thrown about (in a good way) from topic to topic on important ideas of the day. I suggest going back to read some of the older articles to also note how the website has evolved, in a good way. And, even better, get a copy of his latest book “55 Rules for a Good Life.” ❤❤❤❤❤
Evil is evil. The problem is most people, the vast majority including leaders don’t see it for what it can do. In Gen. Satterfield’s Daily favorites today he links to articles on how the Minneapolis City Council is having to deal with things that are evil and it looks like they are bending a knee to evil.
Hey, its Minneapolis, what do you expect. THey are all nuts. The sane folks left long ago. But if you are one of the few sane folks, then GET OUT of Minneapolis NOW before it collapses all around you. Oh, your life is at stake. Don’t be stupid, leave now. Get in your car and drive away.
Nailed it, mainer. 👍
They are among the fallen. And it will be decades before they recover. In the meantime, they still have a ways to fall. Let’s talk about the 😈🔥
Erleldech, you got that right. I suggest folks read these articles. Link here to daily favorites:
https://www.theleadermaker.com/daily-favorites-new/