Abstract
Abstract
Digital transformation is widely promoted as a pathway to efficiency, transparency, and organisational renewal. Yet emerging evidence suggests that digitally mediated governance systems may also reshape how power is exercised, often enabling forms of leadership that undermine employee well-being and inclusion. This study examines how digital monitoring systems, metric-driven performance regimes, and restructuring processes interact with leadership practices to produce harmful organisational outcomes.
Drawing on a socio-technical governance perspective, the paper conceptualises destructive leadership not as an individual pathology but as a relational and systemic phenomenon embedded within digital infrastructures and accountability mechanisms. Through empirical investigation of contemporary organisational settings, we demonstrate how digital systems can concentrate control, obscure responsibility, and normalise practices that erode trust, psychological safety, and voice—particularly for marginalised and precarious employees.
The findings contribute to leadership and EDI scholarship by reframing destructive leadership as a structurally enabled process rather than solely a behavioural deviation. The paper also offers implications for organisations seeking to balance digital innovation with ethical leadership and inclusive governance.