Are you a dynamically dangerous or disastrously dangerous leader?

There's a difference.

These days, a lot of speakers and writers encourage people to be dangerous -- to the status quo, to the enemy, to hell, etc.  That's a good thing.

There's another kind of dangerous we can become if we're not careful.  Even our gifts have a dark side that must be carefully watched to make sure we don't become more disastrous than dynamic.

In an article on the dark side of leadership, Dr. Tuvia Melamed says:

 "Think about those high hitters who leave carnage behind them. It is very difficult to challenge or argue against them; let alone stop them...organizations try to learn to live with their shortfalls and justify it by saying that the business depends on them for its success. This is probably true, but only up to a certain point. In the long-term they can cause unacceptable collateral damage, and might bring the organization to ‘its knees’." 

 Dr. Melamed is not referring to bringing the organization on it's knees in prayer.   

There are many angles of our dark side that we must be aware of to avoid bringing a group to it's knees in all the wrong ways.  There are hundreds of these that I could share, but just a few that jump out at me today are:

Dynamically dangerous leaders invite conversation.
Disastrously dangerous leaders avoid conversation and particularly disastrous ones forbid it.

Dynamically dangerous leaders elevate others and hope they go even further than they go.
Disastrously dangerous leaders squash others and are threatened by them.

Dynamically dangerous leaders know that all of us are smarter than one of us.
Disastrously dangerous leaders have to be right all the time.

Dynamically dangerous leaders welcome ideas from others.
Disastrously dangerous leaders are bent on their own ideas and will spiritualize it by saying it's their God-given vision that everyone needs to follow without question.

Dynamically dangerous leaders give credit to their team members who come up with ideas.
Disastrously dangerous leaders take the credit for most everything. They do throw the occasional but extremely rare bone of credit to a pet or two just to be able to give example that they don't always take the credit.

Dynamically dangerous leaders earn the respect of their followers.
Disastrously dangerous leaders demand respect and have an almost cult-like view of it.

Dynamically dangerous leaders want others to follow them as they follow Christ.
Disastrously dangerous leaders want others to follow them despite their unChristlike actions and tragically some begin to act like they ARE God.  (Messiah complex)


Dynamically dangerous leaders create a culture of love and acceptance.
Disastrously dangerous leaders create a culture of fear and shame.

Dynamically dangerous leaders lead from a place of true humility and servanthood.
Disastrously dangerous leaders slip into false humility, eventually arrogance.

Dynamically dangerous leaders celebrate diversity and don't need their team to be their clones.
Disastrously dangerous leaders surround themselves only with people who are like them or agree with them 100% of the time.

Dynamically dangerous leaders cultivate a healthy environment for growth.
Disastrously dangerous leaders cultivate a place where spiritual abuse thrives.