Dysfunctioal companies are lead by dysfunctional leaders. CBS News brought more information on how the dysfunctional leadership is manifested in practice.
Ivory tower effect
When top leaders keep themselves isolated from others and make decisions in a vacuum, they create an unpleasant cultural gap between management and employees.
Warring parties
If marketing is at war with sales and other departments in your company say that everybody hates HR, it is not natural. Instead of supporting cooperation, you support rivalry.
Sudden strategies
Some leaders make decisions rashly - during unscheduled meetings, without necessary information and without the presence of people who are responsible for the appropriate issues.
Analysis paralysis
Other leaders - in particular representatives of the warring parties - discuss some things over and over again. They cannot reach any solution because they cannot find any match.
Miracles
Leaders often consciously or unconsciously give preferential treatment to certain groups while disadvantaging others. They can also do "miracles" when certain groups do not have to go through some standard processes.
Silo mentality
Teams, departments or even whole divisions act as if they were independent of the rest of the company and behave defensively.
Sacred cow
Some projects - particularly the projects of high-profile people - are not subject to criticism and are funded for a long time after it stops to make sense.
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