Fyre: A Case Study of How Followership in Organizations Is Influenced by Narcissistic Leadership
- Eddie Francis
- Oct 6
- 2 min read
The following is the abstract with key insights from my master's degree professional project "Fyre: A Case Study of How Followership in Organizations Is Influenced by Narcissistic Leadership". It is followed by a link to the paper on Academia.edu.
Followership informs effective leadership through followers’ active involvement in organizational health. To simply follow is to do as one is told, but followership is taking an active role in providing intentional feedback to leaders so that organizations perform well.
The Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) provides the framework for followership and leadership to interact based on the quality of their exchanges. For leadership to be effective, therefore, those with legitimate authority must be cognizant of the value of their followers’ expertise authority. Narcissistic leadership, however, poses a threat to high-quality exchanges. A narcissist’s emotionally volatile combination of self-importance, grandiosity and vulnerability poses a threat to effective followership.
Here are five significant insights:
Follower perception erodes over time under narcissistic leadership. While followers can be initially attracted to narcissistic leaders because of their confidence and bold nature, this positive perception and high regard erodes over time as followers become better acquainted with the leader's toxic behavior.
Narcissistic leaders pretty much ignore expertise authority. For the narcissist, it's all about them. So, they tend to ignore--even violate--the expertise authority of their followers. And it can backfire "bigly." Ignoring experts can compel followers to protect organizational integrity and even become whistleblowers when ethical or moral concerns are compromised.
Narcissistic leaders can be the cause of serious organizational turnover and decreased follower commitment. When narcissistic leadership is non-productive, it creates a toxic environment that results in higher employee turnover and decreased organizational commitment among followers. Vulnerable followers are particularly prone to being victimized by the narcissist's self-focused behavior.
Narcissists exploit the in-group. Narcissists leverage the leader-follower relationship by selectively forming an "in-group" of followers. This in-group consists of a select group of followers who actively engage with the leader. That's not the problem. The problem is that this engagement can effectively reinforcing the narcissistic leader's sense of grandiosity and self-importance, leaving next to nothing for the dedicated in-group.
Times of uncertainty are a gift for narcissistic leader. Narcissists become attractive leadership prospects when there is uncertainty among followers, especially in a fixed mindset organization. The perceived confidence and bold vision of the narcissist invite trust and allow them to gain the upper hand in negotiations and power dynamics. It's almost like inviting a vampire into your house.
