Dear Reader,

Not everyone is cut out to be a good leader. Depending on the institution, advanced leadership may demand eloquence, empathy, expertise, genius, courage, or any number of other qualities that one may not be born with and cannot easily acquire. And of course, good leadership always requires common sense and decent judgment. Also integrity. In a perfect world, people with deep deficits in these areas would never rise to a supervisory position, much less to the top of a large and complex organization.

But this is not a perfect world, and flawed people are imposed on the rest of us all the time, whether because of favoritism, discrimination, nepotism, myopia, or dumb luck. Sometimes bad leaders are responsible for choosing their successors, which can lead to a vicious cycle of crappy leadership.

But all is not hopeless. There are strategies that even terrible leaders can employ to at least mitigate the harm they might otherwise cause. And the good news is these practice points can be followed by anyone, even if corrupt and dimwitted.