Tevor,

Believe me, Greenleaf was speaking from experience. He had some lousy and great bosses at AT&T and discovered some exceptional leaders out in the several hundred Ma Bell affiliates, but he--and they--always had to put up with an arcane bureaucracy, heavy baggage of the world's largest corporation (at least, when he worked there).

Don Frick
Don Frick | 02.16.06 - 12:54 pm | #

Great question! I'd pick a great organization with a bad leader. It's easier to change one leader than a whole culture. Also, the person may not survive long if the rest of the organization is really good.
Hector | Homepage | 02.16.06 - 7:46 pm | #

Is it really possible to have a good work environement under bad leadership?
Tom Jablonski | 02.17.06 - 4:21 pm | #

I think it is possible if the bad leader is new to an oragnization with a long history of a good environment. I've been in this situaiton. The good people who cared about the organization kept things going despite the autocratic and maniuplative leader - luckily the person moved on after 3 years. There was damage done and some of it only became evident in time after the bad leader was gone - if the bad leader had stayed much longer I do not believe the good culture would have
survived - people would have given up. Mary Jo
Mary Jo Klos | 02.24.06 - 10:13 pm | #