If anyone wants to see how asshole management works in reality, just visit any random retail store, franchise or independent. Or worse, call centers. These pla

If anyone wants to see how asshole management works in reality, just visit any random retail store, franchise or independent. Or worse, call centers. These places typically have very limited upward mobility, and their only requirement for future operational (i.e, not corporate) "leaders" would be results from working at the ground floor. This means that they tend to hire people that aren't necessarily the best leaders, but the best sellers. It's basically the Peter Principle in action, but often with only one step up on the ladder. And because these people, or leaders, have very limited training or exposure to good leadership (their old leaders got to the same place, the same way), they perpetuate the same sh!tty anti-leadership practices - which is very much something one could call asshole management. And what's more, there's often such a extreme level of power asymmetry / imbalance, that lower-level workers are completely at the mercy of their middle-managers. It is something you can draw parallels to in sports. You're being measured by KPI / performance measures, and get more responsibilities the better you perform. Everyone who's ever played any competitive team sports knows or has experiences this - some star player(s) that have can rein freely, because they exceed at some important measure (score goals, or whatever) - while rest of their teammates are walking on eggshells. But to tie it all together: The problem is that entities (businesses, sports teams, whatever) become dependent on these stars, even though it could completely destroy morale, and create toxic cultures within. I think that if you identify these following points in some environment, there's a great chance you'll meet on great asshole bosses / leaders 1) Great power imbalance between worker and leader. 2) Leadership compensation is dependent on worker performance. 3) Levels of compensation is driven by a very few measures / KPI. 4) Upward mobility is squarely tied to your KPI performance (from 3). Basically - if the only way to succeed within is to be a rainmaker, and being a rainmaker makes you the king, then that could easily foster assholes.