**4. Discussion and conclusion**

The main purpose of this chapter was to elucidate destructive leadership patterns in the Swedish Armed Forces through the experiences of six female cadets during their training at the officers' program. We will now continue to analyze in more detail the content of the results three factors: ambition, culture, and visibility, and how they can be understood from a perspective of destructive leadership.

The factor identified as ambition revealed that the participants of this study display high levels of ambitions and have clear-cut aspirations for their professional careers. They start their training with an ambitious outlook on career goals, but experience disappointment as their expectations are not substantialized. The informants also expressed a desire to be recognized on grounds of their competence and ambitions, with the aspiration to be accepted as soldiers. The ambition of reaching out for high set career goals, however, gets conflicted by that of becoming a mother. According to the informants' own perception, these roles are hard to combine and the mutual feeling is that women who start a family do not get promoted or considered for more demanding positions. Behind this notion lies stereotypical gender role that still appears sustained within SAF, where women are seen as naturally associated with communal qualities, which implies that they are not suited to the general conception of leadership [34]. Another hindrance to women lifted by the informants is the physical demands, since they are not adjusted to different biological conditions or even corresponding to the ones set by the different army forces, which can also be perceived as a way to confirm a stereotypical image of SAF as, in essence, masculine, and can in fact lead to performance decrements [16].

The study identifies the second factor culture, as a perception of a collective identification formed by hereditary traditions that sustain and preserve "the essence of Karlberg." Culture in this way is expressed symbolically and contributes to the framing of the military as a distinctive organization liable to its own set of rules and provides a unified social identity for its members [15]. Seen in this way, the cultural framework can also help to explain the context that contributes to forming destructive leadership behaviors, since the exclusivity brings an exclusion for those who belong to a deviant category or for some other reasons do not want to participate in the social activities. The identification process also adds to the formation of the masculine ideal, a sort of "male glorification" as stated by Regnö [35]. The strong masculine connotation of the soldier fits like a glove with the ideal of hegemonic masculinity [20] and aids the construction of attitudes on men and women in the military. Evidence for this pattern is seen in an idealized image-making of the male-dominated army troops, which not only dictates the basic training at the academy, but also renders employees that has a professional background from the army with a higher social status. Taking into account Ackers theory on the internal division in masculine and feminine categories [19], a binary division in core activities (the army) and supporting activities (air force and navy) is identified, also substantiated by the research made by Persson [36]. The masculine ideal corresponds with a depreciation of feminine aspects apparent in the experiences of the informants who feels that a female soldier or officer does not have the same prominence as their male counterparts. The degradation construct is further created and sustained through the spreading of myths and rumors where female militaries are suspected of being the recipients of positive special treatment and thus having an easier time in the military than their male colleagues.

source of annoyance. Therefore, a more structured plan that focuses on equality and gender issues as an integrated part of the curriculum is desired, rather than ad hoc lectures thrown in last minute. Getting the tools for practically implementing the value system into the daily routines after finishing the education is something that one informant claimed would be of

The main purpose of this chapter was to elucidate destructive leadership patterns in the Swedish Armed Forces through the experiences of six female cadets during their training at the officers' program. We will now continue to analyze in more detail the content of the results three factors: ambition, culture, and visibility, and how they can be understood from a

The factor identified as ambition revealed that the participants of this study display high levels of ambitions and have clear-cut aspirations for their professional careers. They start their training with an ambitious outlook on career goals, but experience disappointment as their expectations are not substantialized. The informants also expressed a desire to be recognized on grounds of their competence and ambitions, with the aspiration to be accepted as soldiers. The ambition of reaching out for high set career goals, however, gets conflicted by that of becoming a mother. According to the informants' own perception, these roles are hard to combine and the mutual feeling is that women who start a family do not get promoted or considered for more demanding positions. Behind this notion lies stereotypical gender role that still appears sustained within SAF, where women are seen as naturally associated with communal qualities, which implies that they are not suited to the general conception of leadership [34]. Another hindrance to women lifted by the informants is the physical demands, since they are not adjusted to different biological conditions or even corresponding to the ones set by the different army forces, which can also be perceived as a way to confirm a stereotypical image of SAF as, in essence, masculine, and can in fact lead to performance decrements [16]. The study identifies the second factor culture, as a perception of a collective identification formed by hereditary traditions that sustain and preserve "the essence of Karlberg." Culture in this way is expressed symbolically and contributes to the framing of the military as a distinctive organization liable to its own set of rules and provides a unified social identity for its members [15]. Seen in this way, the cultural framework can also help to explain the context that contributes to forming destructive leadership behaviors, since the exclusivity brings an exclusion for those who belong to a deviant category or for some other reasons do not want to participate in the social activities. The identification process also adds to the formation of the masculine ideal, a sort of "male glorification" as stated by Regnö [35]. The strong masculine connotation of the soldier fits like a glove with the ideal of hegemonic masculinity [20] and aids the construction of attitudes on men and women in the military. Evidence for this pattern is seen in an idealized image-making of the male-dominated army troops, which not only dictates the basic training at the academy, but also renders employees that has a professional background from the army with a higher social status. Taking into account Ackers theory on

huge benefit from a leadership perspective.

**4. Discussion and conclusion**

102 Dark Sides of Organizational Behavior and Leadership

perspective of destructive leadership.

The result also brought up personal treatment and jargon as culturally contingents, where jargon or negative treatment is neutralized and ignored. This can be seen as a coping strategy since depreciatory discourse on women has a profoundly negative impact on the self-image [37]. Another adjustment strategy that was identified is the accepting approach where women put up with an existing jargon. This strategy proceeds from a cultural setting, which defines boundaries for what is approved topics of conversation. Questions concerning equality and sexual harassment are approached with great caution, corresponding well with the process of social identification where strong bonds are created with unwritten contracts of what you can and cannot reveal to outsiders. Another explanation that describes the cultural setting is that the military organization itself is greedy, demanding everything from its associates [3], a notion that can also be linked to the concept of self-image since a greedy organization also demands great conformity to its own set of ideals. The image construction of the military as being a peculiar kind of organization, and as such liable to its own set of rules also reveals a "narcissistic" organizational trait. It appears that there is a prevailing culture of silence on sensitive topics, and sometimes a lack of follow ups on actual mistakes [30]. This in turn can have effects on the leadership, especially in terms of learning from errors, which according to Yan et al. involves: "*identifying, analyzing, and transforming an error into experience and utilizing the knowledge to correct actions and improve performance*" [27]. At the same time, admitting to mistakes can damage the collective identity, more so if there are narcissistic tendencies in that organization.

The third factor visibility derives from personal experiences of the women at the military academy as well as in SAF that they receive a high visibility because their sex is female. This visibility is enhanced by the exposedness of being in a minority position, and highlighted in the marketing campaigns of SAF where female soldiers often are the focal point. Behind this policymaking, one can clearly detect the good intentions gone awry, manifested in a desire on behalf of the strategic levels of leadership to make the women more visible in order to improve their situation and also to attract more women, which is not a bad idea. The impending dilemma though for the women who already are in the organization, this visibility further increases the preasure to maintain their position, while at the same time removes the focus away from actual performance. Visibility in this way consolidates the general acceptance that the soldier is a male construct, which makes women that hold this profession to stand out as an anomaly. It also aids to the commonly accepted image of the military as a male construction, closely intertwined with hegemonic masculinity, where one significant function historically has been "to turn boys into men" [21]. The deviant group, which in this case consists of the female cadets, is made visible because they do not belong to the normative group, which means that the individual woman becomes a representative for all women, a token [18]. SAF heightens the visualization on female employees in the marketing campaigns both externally and internally. Questions on what grounds the female employees are being highlighted for fertilize the spreading of myths and rumors on gender quotas and special treatment where personal achievements and competence are set in the background. The image of SAF and its operations as a work reserved for men only will be further established if the focus of marketing campaigns is perceived as showing off women just because they are women. The visibility effect is identified in the implementation plan for SAF from 2015 as a negative aspect of gender mainstreaming [5], but there is no suggestion of how to overcome this dilemma. A sentiment shared by the informants is that the visibility consolidates the idea that women are seen as the abnormality, a norm further reconstituted by the equality work. At the same time, however, this work needs to take place.

chapter, destructive leadership can be interpreted as the havoc of good intentions, a manifestation as well as a creation of gender inequality, and as such it is a most intricate problem to solve. The only way forward, however, is to admit to mistakes, learn from them, and figure out a better way to approach the issue, where an open communication with those involves a

The Havoc of Good Intentions: Destructive Leadership through the Gender Lens

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81539

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Practical implementation made from this study would be to introduce a better follow up on how the agenda with gender mainstreaming in reality is affecting the situation of women in the organization. A major obstacle is that the discussions on gender mainstreaming and sexual harassments are most profound high up in the hierarchy, where, in order to gain more momentum, individuals from the lower ranks of the hierarchy need to be included. One way of achieving this is to integrate a more structured implementation plan for carrying out the value system into the curriculum of the officers program. Effective leadership tools suggested is clear and open communication with an emphasis on developmental leadership, as well as

The women in the study asked for mentorship that enhances the function of female role models. The already existing network for women in the military, network officer/employed woman (NOAK) is perceived by the informants of this study as greatly associated with the

Another suggestion on the basis of this study is to nuance the emphasis on women in the advertisement campaigns. Equality issues involve both men and women, and it is essential to put a gender neutral protocol on all individuals on all levels. It would be interesting to study in further detail how the current recruitment strategy and exposure of women in the communication internally and externally is affecting the working environment of the women in SAF. Highly relevant to destructive leadership is the occurrence of complaints of sexual harassment and negative treatment, where, in the wake of "me too" campaign revealed that as much as 10% of all women in the SAF shared the experience of sexual harassment and special treatment [38]. Further research should be made in order to illuminate how the male-

far better strategy than putting all the spotlights on women.

**5. Practical implications and further research**

with ethical leadership styles [1].

**Author details**

Irja Malmio<sup>1</sup>

precarious situation of being a woman in SAF.

\* and Sofia Nilsson<sup>2</sup>

\*Address all correspondence to: irjamalmio@hotmail.com

dominated culture is affecting the working environment for women.

1 Leadership Department, Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, Sweden

2 Department of Leadership and Security, Swedish Defence University, Karlstad, Sweden

It is our conclusion that all three factors are the result of destructive leadership patterns that are forming at the strategic levels of leadership in SAF, and that this particular type of destructive leadership has its origin in what appears to be a benign wish to take proactive steps to improve the situation of women in SAF. The ambition of SAF to increase the number of female employees partly through implementing a new set of values at the very heart of the organization has indeed run into a few problems. One dilemma is how the new values appear to have been practically put to use where the informants of this study feel that there is a great discrepancy with what is said in writing and what the reality actually looks like. Instead of being a common goal for employees to strive for together, the work on gender mainstreaming has become a symbol of the void between management and administration and the remaining organization where the activities are of more operative nature [4]. One important part in the definition on destructive leadership is that what makes leadership destructive has less to do with the leader's intentions than with the outcomes of the leaders' behavior [1]. A leader can have the best of intentions, but if his or her actions have a negative result, it is still considered a destructive behavior. Considering the experiences of the female cadets, it is evident that allthough the intention of the strategic leadership of promoting women is most benign, the result of, as well as how it has been carried out has had a negative impact on the working conditions of women in SAF. This fits well with the notion that destructive leadership is seldom absolutely or entirely destructive. Both constructive and destructive forms of leadership exist side by side, and can in fact be seen as two sides of the same coin [25].

Another feature that stands in the way for gender mainstreaming in SAF is the basic understanding on what the military profession in its essence signifies. This image construction is created around the notion that the military is a distinctive and particular organization with its own set of values and rules, an idea that hinders gender mainstreaming. However, this exclusivity is becoming less and less prominent as societal and political demands on transformation are increasing, while the gap between the civil and the military sphere at the same time is shrinking [26]. This conversion has been hard for SAF to adapt to, which in the case of the organizations highly held ambitions on gender mainstreaming appears to have led to some destructive outcomes for those achievements. In the lines of arguments put forth in this chapter, destructive leadership can be interpreted as the havoc of good intentions, a manifestation as well as a creation of gender inequality, and as such it is a most intricate problem to solve. The only way forward, however, is to admit to mistakes, learn from them, and figure out a better way to approach the issue, where an open communication with those involves a far better strategy than putting all the spotlights on women.
