The Evolution of Leadership Rot

How Everyday Abuse Grooms Compliance

An abusive company culture is obviously toxic; however, it is also an informal training ground, albeit less severe and more subtle, for unscrupulous leaders to hone their craft around a cycle of abusive power.

How This Shows Up at Work First

Below are examples of how each stage can manifest in a work setting. Make note of any scenarios you’ve experienced in your career, or worse, implemented.

1. Establish new corporate policies or cultural norms that gradually shift employee expectations and behaviors. Introduce policies that promote longer working hours under the guise of “commitment to the company,” thereby normalizing overwork and diminishing work-life balance.
2. Create divisions within the workforce based on performance metrics, loyalty, or other criteria. Implement a ranking system that categorizes employees as high performers, average performers, and low performers, with the latter group being stigmatized and marginalized.
3. Impose restrictions on opportunities, resources, or privileges based on arbitrary or biased criteria. Limit access to training programs, promotions, or bonuses for a select group of employees, often favoring personal connections instead of merit.
4. Deliberately exclude specific employees from important meetings, projects, or decision-making processes. Methodically omit certain departments or teams from crucial discussions, which effectively silences their voices and contributions.
5. Create a culture of fear where employees are afraid to speak up against injustices or unethical practices. Promote a culture where dissent is punished, resulting in self-censorship and a lack of open communication.
6. Force out employees who do not conform to the new norms or who are deemed undesirable. Use performance improvement plans (PIPs) or other mechanisms to push out employees who question the status quo or who are seen as troublemakers.
7. Completely erase the contributions and presence of certain employees or teams from the company’s history or culture. Rewrite company history to exclude the contributions of certain individuals or teams, thereby erasing their legacy and impact.

Do any of these seem even slightly familiar to environments you’ve encountered?

The Seven Phases of Abusive Power: The Governance Playbook of Oppression

Abusive leaders are predictable, and the seven phases of abusive power often recur, especially in governance, where they are easier to spot and more dangerous.

1. Laws to Engineer Social Consent and Erode Existing Norms: This stage involves the creation and implementation of laws designed to shape public opinion and behavior. The goal is to make the population more amenable to further control. e.g, Propaganda and legal changes that subtly shift societal norms to align with the authority’s agenda.
2. Definitions, Who’s In and Who’s Out: At this stage, the authority begins to categorize people based on certain criteria, often creating divisions within society. e.g, Defining citizenship or membership in a group based on ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation.
3. Restrictions, Who Is Eligible or Allowed: This involves imposing restrictions on certain groups, limiting their rights and freedoms. e.g, Laws that restrict certain groups from voting, owning property, or accessing education.
4. Exclusion, Who Is Ineligible and Forbidden: Exclusionary practices become more pronounced, with certain groups being explicitly forbidden from participating in various aspects of society. e.g, Segregation laws or policies that prevent certain groups from living in specific areas or using certain facilities.
5. Silence, Who Will Speak Up or Self-Select: This stage involves suppressing dissent and encouraging self-censorship. People may choose to remain silent out of fear or conformity. e.g, The surveillance and punishment of those who speak out against authority, leading to a culture of fear.
6. Deportation, Who Will Be Removed: The authority begins to remove individuals or groups deemed undesirable or threatening physically. e.g, Mass deportations or forced relocations of specific populations.
7. Death, Who Will Be Erased: The final and most extreme stage involves the elimination of individuals or groups through violence or other means. e.g, Genocide or state-sanctioned killings.

The warning signs of abusive leadership appear early to those willing to recognize them. Unfortunately, the current social and political climate in the United States is characterized by significant challenges and divisions, many of which correspond with the cycle of abusive power:

1. Laws: Initiatives like Project 2025 — proposed by partisan think tanks to reshape federal institutions — illustrate what happens when leaders prioritize consolidation and dogma over transparency and ethics. This project has been criticized for potentially eroding democratic norms and civil rights.
2. Definitions: The political climate is highly divisive, marked by significant differences in opinions on major issues, including climate change, immigration, and social justice.
3. Restrictions: There are ongoing debates and legal battles over restrictions on various rights and freedoms. For instance, there have been protests and legal actions against the deployment of the National Guard to quell protests, indicating restrictions on the right to protest and freedom of speech.
4. Exclusion: Concerns exist about policies that may result in the exclusion of specific groups. For instance, Project 2025 includes proposals that would roll back civil rights protections, potentially leading to certain groups being excluded from fully participating in society.
5. Silence: There is evidence of a climate of fear and self-censorship. For example, young Americans report significant economic concerns, social isolation, and distrust in government and institutions, which leads to self-censorship and a reluctance to speak out against injustices.
6. Deportation: There have been significant protests against the deployment of the National Guard to quell protests against ICE abductions and deportations.
7. Death: While there is no direct evidence of state-sanctioned killings, the political climate is volatile, and there are concerns about the potential for further escalation of violence and oppression. Efforts to censor language in education and government documents attempt to erase the contributions of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.

The United States is undeniably experiencing deep social and political turmoil, with early-stage patterns of abusive power gaining traction across public and private sectors. Laws and policies are being proposed and enacted that may erode existing norms, define who is included and excluded, and restrict certain rights and freedoms. Additionally, there are signs of self-censorship and protests against policies that could result in further exclusion and deportation.

The insidious progression of abusive power, from engineered consent to outright erasure, is not a theoretical construct. It is a present and corrosive force within organizations that, if left unchecked, will continue to dismantle trust, stifle innovation, and ultimately lead to catastrophic failure. To tolerate this cycle, wherever it exists, is not neutrality; it is complicity.

Interrupt the Spiral

Leadership Rot doesn’t collapse on its own. It deepens quietly, systemically, and with institutional complicity, unless leaders intervene. Here’s how that interruption must happen:

• Interrupt Normalization — Abusive power always starts small. Leaders must name it early, before rot becomes “culture.” Draw the line. Don’t let manipulation masquerade as management.
• Expose Exclusion and Silence — Look at who’s missing from rooms, rosters, promotions, and decisions. Track who’s not talking — and why. Use listening to investigate power, not just sentiment.
• Enforce Relentless Accountability — Power protects itself unless it’s held in check. Don’t let policy be theater. Enforce real systems of accountability where abuse is risky, not rewarded.

These aren’t aspirational. They are operational.
If you’re not embedding them, you’re not just drifting, you’re rotting too.

It’s Not a Matter of If

Where there is no accountability, abusers get promoted.
Where silence is rewarded, culture decays.
Where standards are inconvenient, the rot spreads.

Leadership Rot doesn’t ask permission.
It grows in silence, thrives on complicity, and infects systems that pretend not to see.

If you’re not interrupting it, you’re enabling it.

It’s in your org. Chart, your policies, your silence.

See it. Stop it.

Start here:

Take the Leadership Accountability Audit™

See what rot you’re already allowing.

Then decide:

Will you lead, or just manage the decay?

A Doctrine of Interruption

At Karl Bimshas Consulting, we make that kind of environment uninhabitable. We install leadership systems that make abuse nearly impossible to hide and dangerous to attempt.

We don’t just identify abuse, we interrupt it and steer professionals away from this spiral.

The antidote to abusive leadership isn’t more power. It’s more accountability.