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Why Good People Become Bad Bosses | Jamie Woolf and Christopher Bell | TED

You’ve probably had a bad boss, but you might not realize how easy it is to become one. Leadership experts Jamie Woolf and Christopher Bell unpack “power blindness” — how authority can warp your perspective — and share smart, practical ways to break the cycle of toxic bosses for good.(Recorded at TEDxSonomaCounty on March 8,…

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You’ve probably had a bad boss, but you might not realize how easy it is to become one. Leadership experts Jamie Woolf and Christopher Bell unpack “power blindness” — how authority can warp your perspective — and share smart, practical ways to break the cycle of toxic bosses for good.(Recorded at TEDxSonomaCounty on March 8, 2025)

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25 Comments

25 Comments

  1. @martinesejour3361

    October 31, 2025 at 11:05 am

    Justice!

  2. @Puddleglum83

    October 31, 2025 at 11:13 am

    5:22 ok im done. Bringing up race bullshit

  3. @Jasonxbr

    October 31, 2025 at 11:20 am

    Not only the reason why ceo are evil due to a personality change of power, domination, control, greed, corruption, politics and the stress of corporate life as well secret affairs 😢😢😢😢 they lose sight of what the mission statement of their company represents. This has a profound effect in the company culture and psychological factors such gender roles, positions, promotions etc. Its basically a college toxic environment of masculinity and sexism as well clicks in groups. Its we vs them mentality. 😢😢😢😢😢

  4. @Onionbaron

    October 31, 2025 at 11:22 am

    This is someone looking in a U.S mirror…

  5. @h0m3st4r

    October 31, 2025 at 12:08 pm

    With great power comes great responsibility.
    That’s the catchphrase of old uncle Ben.
    If you missed it, don’t worry. They’ll say the line
    Again and again and again.

  6. @mrfalleo

    October 31, 2025 at 12:24 pm

    Being overly good can be self-destructive, as it invites exploitation from others, leading to transactional relationships. In contrast, a pragmatic approach tends to earn respect as a leader, since people will form opinions about you regardless of whether you are seen as good or bad. Effective leadership requires a degree of assertiveness and respect, and when you lean too much into being good and honest, it can create self-doubt and can cause cracks that undermines your authority which people will exploit if given the chance either way. So you have to be bad sometimes, to keep stability the real term is to be ruthless and precise because the objective world is selfish and amoral it is the game, It does not care if you are human, you are a statistic. To do real good in a selfish objective world, you need to know how to be dangerous with precision and calculated restraint. It is a cold equation. Play the ball and think.

    • @abderahmanoubaha7957

      October 31, 2025 at 3:29 pm

      i think the key element is to be wisely fair instead of trying to please people or yourself
      and there’s no magical formula for it

      you just need to keep learning how to be as humble and lucid as possible, since ar*ogance and delusion are the path of ruin

    • @En_theo

      November 1, 2025 at 3:26 am

      It’s all about competence vs. ethic The real problem is that competent employees (let’s say that IT guy who knows everything about the system and without whom you could not do a thing) are essential. And they know it and will abuse of it. So, what do you do when that IT guy is very toxic to a less-essential-employee but you can’t fire him ? And there you go, you’re the bad boss now. And I dare you to find a boss who will openly say “yeah I know he is harrassing you but my business will die if I fire him”.

      The very bad boss however, is the one who keeps incompetent managers because they sweat-talk him or something. That’s the most stupid and recurrent case I have seen in my life.

    • @kinchonice6183

      November 1, 2025 at 9:18 pm

      Thank you 😊

  7. @mmdrodrigues

    October 31, 2025 at 1:27 pm

    Good people, as opposed to bad people. I have a hard time understanding the oversimplification of what makes someone good…. I understand what is meant by it as a heuristic…. Is it enough as far as being precise goes ?

  8. @georgythomas8451

    October 31, 2025 at 1:36 pm

    Statistically speaking isn’t anyone more likely to go to jail than be a PhD?😂

    • @gregg9581

      November 1, 2025 at 8:14 pm

      No, for an “average” US woman jail is about 1% (Roherkasse & Wildemann, 2022) and PhD 2% (Prestianni, 2023). And if you know more about a person than only the gender (like income of parents), these likelihoods can change very much.

  9. @Asijantuntia

    October 31, 2025 at 1:40 pm

    This video in a nutshell: become a better boss by asking yourself: What kind of armour are you wearing? What might people be afraid to tell me? What am I going to do differently? Take your subordinates to lunch to get to know them, so they feel more secure.

    Really mediocre advice. Lots of pseudo intelligent metaphors without a lot of substance.

  10. @Stacy-x7m

    November 1, 2025 at 2:22 am

    I’ll take “where’s the fund you’ll use to pay snap benefits for 1000 alex” so what’s new in Russia? They have visas for lost penguins?

  11. @mariaantoniettamontella9173

    November 1, 2025 at 5:37 am

    bravissimi

  12. @lifemotivation6789

    November 1, 2025 at 8:50 am

    Loved the practical self-reflection questions they offered: ‘What armour am I wearing? What do people avoid saying to me?’ These simple prompts can guard against slipping into toxic leadership.
    Crestcom International
    +1

    It’s helpful for anyone aspiring to lead well — not just avoiding being a bad boss, but becoming a truly supportive one

  13. @niharikarajshree8793

    November 1, 2025 at 9:48 am

    71 percent is a conservative estimate. Plus this talk is mediocre lesson in Emotional Intelligence already given by Goleman and gurgitated and spat by millions before. I have a very argumentative and kick up a storm regarding MALE and FEMALE boss.

  14. @tianareed

    November 1, 2025 at 4:24 pm

    Sending this video to my former boss.

  15. @mrs.becomes1234

    November 1, 2025 at 5:09 pm

    No person becomes bad overnight, they were already bad they just becomes bosses..

    • @gregg9581

      November 1, 2025 at 8:15 pm

      Isn’t Jamie Woolf a good counter example? Though I don’t disagree that some bad people have a desire to become bosses.

    • @MartinIsRunning

      November 2, 2025 at 11:55 am

      Isn’t the Stanford Prison Experiment kind of… the opposite of that? Otherwise good people who were given limitless power and then turned bad?

  16. @walkingradiance9556

    November 1, 2025 at 7:38 pm

    you could just use a surrogate @0:27.

  17. @davidpham5081

    November 1, 2025 at 9:56 pm

    You guys have got itall wrong. Good person is bad bosses because those who works under them are in it for the wrong reason. Only a few will see through the intenstiin of a good person being the bad boss. Like Professor Snape in Harry Potter. It just proves the makority does not have a brain

  18. @floragreen6399

    November 2, 2025 at 8:37 am

    damn that sectence stuck with me „there is a lot to learn when you’re uncomfortable“ !!

  19. @M.J44

    November 3, 2025 at 11:21 am

    My boss was already a good guy and became a great guy when he became my boss. This video is not universal, and has a corperate “beating will continue until morale improves” message.

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