Good Barbarians push the boundaries, agitate for change in their organizations but never loose the grounding that it’s all about people. Good Barbarians are not lulled into a false sense of security and safety and understand that continual improvement is key to not only the survival of the organization, but is key to ensuring an exciting and fulling work life. Good Barbarians are also careful not the believe their own internal PR machine, becoming unbearably arrogant and pushing away good people.

Bad Barbarians are the opposite. They don’t see leadership as a service to others but as a weapon to be welded against others in the organization for personal benefit. In far too many organizations the Bad Barbarians get all the attention, to the detriment of the organization and everyone who works there. Although Bad Barbarians are often a small percentage of an organization they can have a 100x impact because of the destructive behaviors they exhibit.