The Anatomy of Toxic Leaders: Harris & Harken

This project examines toxic leadership through two characters from the movie Horrible Bosses 2011 ): Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) and Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey). Both characters display abusive leadership traits that harm their employees. Dr. Harris exploits her position of power to blackmail and groom her employee, Dale. Second, she takes advantage of the precarious position she s caught him in by blackmailing him to destroy the firing marriage he has lined up. Her record of toxic leadership includes bullying, corruption, and rampant misuse of power, contributing to a culture of fear and harassment Dave Harken, Nick s boss, is just as toxic but in the opposite direction. He s just controlling, manipulative and power hungry. Almost from the get go, Harken undermines Nick at every turn, berating him, stealing his ideas, and feeding him empty platitudes of future advancement. Under his leadership, toxicity and demoralization are rampant, and Nick loses all hope. Using ideas from Haslam et al. s ( 2020 ) The New Psychology of Leadership , this project explores how both characters misuse their influence. Dr. Harris uses blackmail and harassment for personal gain, while Harken rules through fear and intimidation . Despite their different approaches, both leaders create damaging work environments that push their employees to extreme measures. By contrasting Dr. Harris and Dave Harken, this project aims to show how toxic leadership can manifest in different ways. Sexual exploitation vs. emotional abuse, but both forms are toxic to employees. This analysis provides a clear example of how at the very best leadership can poison work environments, and wreck workers ’ mental health and workplace well being.This project was completed for PSY 350 /LDRS 490 : Psychology of Leadership