The Ghost in the Hallways: The Impact of Narcissistic Leader Departure on Team Dynamics

Abstract: Narcissistic leaders erode trust and undermine the social fabric of their teams and organizations. While research has examined the harm these leaders inflict during their tenure, little is known about what happens after their departure. We propose that these detrimental effects do not vanish upon exit but persist as the leader’s memory or “ghost” continues to cause relational dysfunction. Drawing on identification and disidentification, we identify different follower profiles and argue that the narcissistic leader’s memory is kept alive by those who incorporate their relationship with the leader into their self-meanings, where telling stories about the leader constitute identity work. Contradictory narratives between these profiles trigger mutual identity threats, sustaining divisions in the leader’s absence. We contribute by defining a “fading loop” of identity deconstruction and introducing “ghostbusting”, a process in which successors provide alternative targets for identification to restore collaboration and reverse the distrust sown by narcissistic predecessors.

Keywords: narcissistic leadership, team conflict, identity, identification