Healing from within: Learning from Those Who Have Lived with Toxic Chaplain Corps Leaders
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to research the question of what can be learned from Air Force Chaplain Corps personnel who have been subordinate to toxic leaders. This paper make use of the comparative case study methodology through the exploratory case study method utilizing lessons learned from Air Force Chaplain Corps members who have been subordinate to toxic leadership. This was accomplished by interviewing 19 Chaplain Corps personnel who volunteered and who have had these experiences. Additionally all the participants received the same 12 questions with three broad categories of dynamics of the toxic leader, of how the team was affected and coped, and how the individual was affected and managed stresses during and after the experience. This study gives additional insight into toxic leader characteristics based on the experiences of those who have been subordinate to the toxic leader. These experiences include showing an inflated sense of self and narcissism, the lack of concern or acknowledgement of those they supervise, and the lack of self-awareness. Additionally this research shows that teams have a variety of response from not being a cohesive team, to finding a point in which they were starting to cope together after a period of not functioning well, or being an interconnected team despite the toxic leadership. Finally, this research shows how some Chaplain Corps personnel were not able to cope being subordinate to toxic leaders, while others had a point in which they began to manage the stressful environment, and others employed different healthy strategies in how they dealt with a toxic leader.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1054264
Entities
People
- Jeremiah L. Blackburn
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College