Egocentric Leadership: Identifying the Traits of Toxic Leadership in Urban Public Schools That Serve Minoritized Students

Recent years have seen an increase in organizational discourse that specifically addresses toxicity among male leaders in urban schools and the negative culture they create, yet there is little research exploring the contributing factors that characterize the nature of these individuals. In this article, the author identifies an association between hyper-masculinity and patriarchal pride that determine belief systems, norms, rituals, and avoidance of empathy in urban public schools. Independently, hyper-masculinity creates a culture of nervousness with higher levels of stress, organizational conflict, and lower work engagement; while patriarchal pride is associated with organizational loyalty, it also refers to antiquated operating systems, rigidity, and a superiority complex. However, results will show that when a man is in a position of power, and he is overly aggressive and inconsiderate, organizational performance will be negatively affected. These surprising results will provide critical insight into how toxic masculinity in educational leadership creates a culture of ineffectiveness.