[November 9, 2025] Leadership is certainly not easy, but no one who has taken such a position does so with the intent to do a bad job of it. Poor leadership – that can be described as being ineffective – is also not something that comes about due to a single error or bad decision but from a series of acts and decisions.1
Like a car wreck, there is rarely a single cause for poor leadership. For example, when in 1876, George Armstrong Custer’s small force of 700 men were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, it was not one decision that led to the disaster but several.
Custer had underestimated Indian numbers and willingness to fight, ignored his scouts’ warnings, violated standard fighting discipline by dividing his force, failed to wait for more forces which were en route to his location, and was over eager to attack. In addition, many of his troopers were inexperienced in combat.
Ideally poor leadership is addressed early. With good mentors and a system that encourages positive criticism and relevant experience to gain resilience, leader skills can be often improved. Very poor leaders will either improve or can be removed. It takes moral courage for leaders to help poor leaders and not allow poor leadership to unnecessarily affect others.
The current controversies at some American universities provide us with ample evidence that their many administrators have not developed good leadership skills to address controversy and rising student protests.
Often we see pandering to students who make foolish or illegal demands; such as free tuition for select students based on race, firing of university presidents, racial quotas for faculty hiring, banning private speech, etc.2 We also see a historical failure to address the tension between free speech, the expression of ideas, and academic freedom.3
Bad decisions and bad acts accumulate. Leaders who take their positions for personal gain (status, money, etc.), for leverage or power over others, or for revenge are more likely to make poor decisions and take inappropriate actions.
Failure to act when required is just as bad as acting in bad faith. Sadly, this is all too common. The lack of moral courage in senior leaders encourages poor leadership to flourish.
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- I make a distinction between poor (bad or ineffective) leadership and evil leadership which are quite different. Evil leadership can be very effective and can employ the many positive traits of leadership as espoused here in theLeaderMaker.com.
- http://www.thedemands.org/ Note that some of their demands were reasonable like increased psychological therapy for students.
- https://www.theleadermaker.com/university-leadership-is-it-real/
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Please read my books:
We should all be exceptionally careful as we progress through the process of being a leader of others. Some will say that a hierachy of values is somehow a bad thing because, as they state, values are violence. This is a common talking point of political, radical leftists who have great influence on our stupid politicians, mostly on the Democrat Party side of the isle. Gen. Satterfield sets out a warning in this article and encourages us to self reflect and to constantly improve. That is the way. And, I now have my personal copy of “55 Rules for a Good Life” and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their own lives.
Gen. Satterfield makes several good points today, so I recommend that those in leadership positions take what he has written and make sure they do not make the same mistakes. The idea that bad decisions / bad leadership actions accumulate is very observant. In other words, there will be a point reached where there is no return on a leader’s ability to do good.
It’s about making good decisions consistantly. That matters!
… and let’s not forget today is the 250th Birthday of the United States Marines which started in Tun Tavern, in Philly, in 1775. I bet that’s where their recruiting office was located. 🫡
OORAH
OORAH
OORAH
👀 Gen. Satterfield, thanks for this article and one dear to my heart. Specifically this quote that I most liked ✅
“Bad decisions and bad acts accumulate. Leaders who take their positions for personal gain (status, money, etc.), for leverage or power over others, or for revenge are more likely to make poor decisions and take inappropriate actions.” Most people don’t realize the importance of self-actualization, the way we make logically informed decisions and then follow through to ensure those decisions are working as we mature and as circumstances in our lives change. This is the epitome of maturity and the opposite of the growing trend in narcissism. 👀
Winston, well said. Sometimes I struggle to do my best to lead a small management team, so to make all our lives more fulfilling while we manufacture a few kitchen appliances. What I’ve found is that people respond well to appropriate praise for a job well done. I try to teach this lesson. And reward them publicly. And maintain high moral and ethical standards.
A series of bad decisions is often the underlying factor in people living a poor life.
Here is where we see Gen. Satterfield making himself more clear by distinguishing poor from evil leadership. It is important not to conflate the two.
Just a suggestion for those new to this leadership forum, please make your comments worthy of reading. Lately, I’ve noticed a decline in quality. Please don’t take my comments as an insult, but please think before you write.
Shawn, although I’ve not seen what you say but I do agree that we need to be more focused and circumspect about our thoughts and what we write. That said, on this particular article by Gen. S., he is dropping back (in a good sense) to his classic form by laying out what it takes to be a good leader – a great leader, because, sometimes, “good” is not good enough. This article is a warning to everyone not to get complacent and lazy because it only takes a little time for circumstances to jump up and bite us in the ass.
Points well made. Don’t just come here to writ3e something just to write something and show that you are reading the contents ….. make yourself useful. 👍
This note is important. Gen. Satterfield is interested in not communicating poorly. Read this:
1. I make a distinction between poor (bad or ineffective) leadership and evil leadership which are quite different. Evil leadership can be very effective and can employ the many positive traits of leadership as espoused here in theLeaderMaker.com.
Gen. Satterfield’s idea that we make our lives worse, not by a single bad decision, but by a series of decisions is very interesting. Yes, we can put our life on the wrong path with a big bad decision but we keep it there with many many more decisions one after the other. I’m not sure if others have said that, but it’s true and one of Gen.S’s themes. So, the lesson is to make good decisons often. HA HA. Just wanted to also say Happy Veterans Day in advance of this coming Tuesday.
“Pandering” students. Nailed it.
Good article and a classic.
Yep, this is what this website by Gen. Satterfield began with and established what the basics of senior leadership is all about. I’m one of the original readers and commentators. No one can find a gernally better website on leadership anywhere. One of the best parts of this site is this very leadership forum. You can go here to test out new ideas without the craziness in stupid ads and trolls doing nutty things. And, I’m one of the biggest fans of Gen. Satterfield’s two books. Read them today!
Thanks Yusaf. I’m from Dallas TX.