The Danger of “Divide and Conquer” Leaders

Weak and flawed leaders try to divide and conquer their followers and demonize their opposition.

Recent events in our country have indicated the importance of unifying leadership. Societies are prone to disintegration. Democracy is a fragile experiment. It’s highly challenging when the environment is diverse, comprising people from various backgrounds and opinions. It is far too easy to focus on what makes us different from one another than on what we all have in common. Of course, many governments operate according to guiding principles established in the distant past to inform their actions, but words and actions often conflict. Similarly, business leaders who have increasing leverage in a globally interconnected system of commerce have a powerful capacity to bring countries and communities together or drive them apart.

In my many years studying leadership, nothing has troubled me more than the leader who takes a divide-and-conquer approach to their role. Sadly, it is much easier to do this than to bring people together. First of all, you deal with a much smaller constituency that is united by shared beliefs. In addition, stirring up negative energy seems to be much easier than sustaining positive momentum. You can stoke the fires of division rather than undertake the challenging work of finding common ground and negotiating differing agendas. As human beings, certain natural things bind us together, but let’s never forget that lurking beneath the surface, there are fears, worries, and apprehensions just waiting to seize an opportunity to appear.

Here are some common traits of “divide and conquer” leaders we should be on the lookout for and inhibit whenever possible.

• They can be incredibly charming and persuasive when they need to be, until you cross them.
• They rationalize their actions in the service of some larger agenda, which may be initially appealing but often has more sinister long-term motives.
• They strongly believe the ends justify the means.
• Their only outcome is win-lose. Compromise to them is unfathomable.
• They derive energy from pitting people against one another. They feel the bigger the chasm, the greater their opportunity.
• Their language always drives contrast, e.g., us versus them, good versus evil, weak versus strong, etc.
• They rarely, if ever, acknowledge mistakes or setbacks. They view vulnerability as a weakness and strive to avoid it at all costs.
• They value loyalty over competence in their subordinates, who are paradoxically always expendable as it suits their purpose.
• They dislike receiving bad news and often adopt a “shoot the messenger” mentality; someone besides themselves must always be to blame when something goes wrong.
• They always have to be elevated above anyone else in their surrounding orbit. No one is more important than them, and everyone should defer to their judgment.
• Their first instinct is to attack whenever confronted with a different point of view, and these attacks are usually personal rather than substantive.
• They have no interest in expanding their worldview and prefer information that validates what they already believe to be true (whether it is or not). Facts are always secondary to their agenda.
• They believe everyone has a price and can be bought to serve their purpose. It genuinely surprises them when they encounter people with strong, unmovable convictions.
• They are never satisfied with having enough and must grow their own assets above all else.
• Free and open competition is anathema to their wiring; they exhaust every opportunity to create an unfair advantage for their agenda.
• They become experts at using the technology tools at their disposal to wreak havoc on their opponents and spread discontent.
• Eventually, they use the cover of religion or some higher purpose to justify their action. It always ends up as a good versus evil scenario.
• They intuitively know that if you scare people, you can manipulate them, especially if you give them an enemy.

We should not take periods of relative calm and peace for granted, as our future is never certain. Thankfully, the arc of humankind has been on a positive trajectory, despite the emergence of many leaders who have prioritized their interests and narcissistic needs over the common good of their people. There have undoubtedly been challenges along the journey, sometimes leading to incredibly tragic outcomes. What’s important is that we all learn the lessons of history, recognize when we are being manipulated for ill ends, and, to quote one of America’s greatest leaders (Abraham Lincoln), we strive to find “the better angels of our nature.” War is easy. Peace is hard.