Don’t let the title scare you! The bad leaders will. Dr. Tom DePaoli in Boogeyman Leadership: How to Turn Your Employees into Listless Zombies, showcases poor leaders and their tactics that inevitably fail. He believes you should know what does not work first, so that an aspiring good leader does not waste time on such failed approaches. He does not pretend to offer any silver bullet solutions to correct these poor leadership policies. He defines boogeyman leadership as the use of miserable and intimidating leadership tactics whose purpose is to terrify employees and instill distrust, apathy and fear. The result is a zombie-like listless state.  Boogeyman Leadership recounts many bad leadership ideas and real-life stories to make sure the reader crosses these schemes off their leadership list. The reader should be forewarned that many of the bad leadership ideas are repetitive. Bad leaders are not very creative! The book is not a solemn academic book or a guide to great leadership successes. Its purpose is to give examples of terrible leadership and worse management tactics that Dr. Tom and others have experienced in their careers.  Dr. Tom sadly notes that these failed leadership ploys are becoming even more common, destructive and hurtful. He urges the reader to avoid these methods at all costs. Followers never forget bullying leaders.

Can you become a better leader by storytelling? Dr. Tom answers with a resounding “Yes!” and wrote a book to prove it. With his book Leadership by Storytelling: The Best Way to Learn Good Leadership Principles, he provides some outstanding principles of great leadership. The principles are illustrated with compelling leadership stories that reinforce the beliefs.  Dr. Tom provides twenty-six principles of successful leadership. He notes that one of the oldest methods of passing down knowledge is oral storytelling. An ancient sage would be the keeper of the stories and passed them down to other tribe members. He strongly recommends the storytelling method for leaders. The stories are actually authentic from his and others careers. Each principle has a story to help clarify the principle. The book has cogent illustrations for the stories. He urges the reader to gather leadership stories to share with fellow leaders and followers. He believes the growth in leadership abilities will be much stronger via the use of leadership storytelling.